DUKE  UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


The  Glenn  Negley  Collection 
of  Utopian  Literature 


-*f--. 


^  -^  -i,  Of.  S' 


«l^ 


A  DREAM 


OF 


A  MODEST  PROPHET. 


BY 

M.    D.    LEGGETT. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT   COMPANY. 
1890. 


Copyright,  1890,  by  J.  B.  Lippincott  Company. 


'^■^iSS^aSS-^ 


^ 


A   DREAM 

OP 

A  MODEST  PROPHET, 


PRELUDE. 

It  is  now  generally  conceded  by  all  well- 
informed  people  that  our  Solar  System  had  a 
nebular  genesis, — that  our  system  of  worlds, 
consistino;  of  the  Sun  and  the  surrounding 
planets,  was  at  one  time  in  the  progress  of  crea- 
tion or  evolution  a  great  nebulous  mass  of  sub- 
limated matter,  in  form  of  vapor  or  gas.  This 
idea  was  first  dimly  suggested,  perhaps  by 
Plato,  about  four  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
but  more  fully  developed  by  Laplace,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  very 
nearly  or  quite  demonstrated  by  later  scientists. 
The  theory,  briefly  stated,  is  that  long  anterior  to 
the  measure  of  time  on  eartli,  many  millions  of 
yeai*s  before,  the  whole  Solar  System  was  a  gase- 
ous mass,  without  form  and  void.  The  force  of 
gravitation,  acting  upon  this  mass,  caused  the 

3 


4  A    DEE AM  OF 

particles  to  be  attracted  towards  its  centre.  The 
various  currents  natural  to  the  fluid  or  gaseous- 
mass  of  matter  would  finally  be  overcome  by 
the  strongest  current,  and  this  was  evidently 
from  the  west  to  the  east,  so  that  the  whole 
mass  partook  of  this  motion,  which  gave  it  a 
revolution  in  that  direction  on  a  common  axis. 
This  motion  caused  a  flattening  at  the  poles  and 
a  bulging  on  the  equatorial  line.  As  this  mass 
continued  to  contract,  the  velocity  of  rotation 
would  increase,  which  would  lead  to  separation 
of  rings  from  the  equator,  where  the  centrif- 
ugal force  was  greatest.  These  rings  would 
break  into  fragments,  some  larger  and  some 
smaller.  As  these  fragments  would  all  be 
moving  in  the  same  path  in  space,  the  largest 
would  gradually,  by  its  superior  attraction,  ac- 
celerate the  motion  of  the  fragments  behind 
it,  and  retard  that  of  those  before  it,  so  that 
in  time  they  would  come  together,  forming  a 
planet.  It  is  supposed  that  in  this  way  all  the 
planets,  moons,  Saturn's  rings,  etc.,  were  formed. 
After  the  separation  of  these  rings,  and  the  col- 
lection of  their  material  into  one  body,  such 
material  was  still  nebular,  and  acted  upon  by 
the  same  laws  as  the  original  mass,  and  the 
process  of  solidification  continued. 

If  Neptune  is  our  outer  planet,  or  the  one 
furthest  from  the  Sun,  then  by  this  theory  it  is 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  5 

the  oldest  planet, — the  first-born  of  the  Solar 
family.  Umnus  is  next,  then  Saturn,  Jupiter, 
the  Asteroids,  Mai's,  Earth,  Venus,  and  the 
youngest,  Mercury. 

The  length  of  time  intervening  between  these 
successive  separations,  or  planetary  births,  is, 
of  course,  all  a  matter  of  speculation.  We 
simply  know  these  periods  must  have  been  very 
long. 

If  this  theory  of  the  creation  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  be  correct,  then  we  must  conclude 
that  in  substance  the  planets  are  all  the  same  as 
the  earth,  and  much  like  it,  and  subject  to  the 
same  natural  laws.  But  the  further  the  planet 
is  from  the  Sun  the  rarer  will  be  its  substance, 
and  the  less  heat  will  it  get  from  the  Sun. 
Hence  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  density  and 
temjierature  of  the  outer  planets  render  them 
inhabitable  for  man. 

But  Mars  being  so  near  the  Earth,  its  con- 
ditions cannot  be  greatly  different,  and  it  is 
reasonably  certain  that  it  is  inhabited  by  beings 
much  like  ourselves,  for  the  same  evolutionary 
laws  have  operated  there  as  here,  and  have  had 
like  material  to  work  upon.  And  as  Mars  is 
probably  many  millions  of  years  older  than  the 
Earth,  it  has,  undoubtedly,  been  inhabited  much 
longer.  Being  further  from  the  Sun,  it  solidi- 
fied more  slowly  than  the  Earth  did,  yet  it  is 
1* 


6  A    DREAM  OF 

reasonable  to  suppose  that  it  was  inhabited  by 
rational  beings  thousands  of  years  before  the 
Earth  was. 

The  people  of  Mars  are  our  nearest  older 
neio;hboi"S.  What  is  their  condition?  Have 
they  advanced  beyond  us  in  civilization  ?  They 
have  lived  on  their  planet  much  longer  than 
we  have  on  ours.  If  they  are  equally  teach- 
able, they  must  have  learned  more.  If  they 
had  the  means  of  doing  so,  and  the  disposition, 
I  wonder  if  they  could  not,  from  their  experi- 
ence, greatly  enlighten  our  statesmen  and  our 
students  of  sociology  on  questions  now  vexing, 
us.  Possibly  they  have  already  been  able  to 
construct  telescopes  of  sufficient  power  to  enable 
them  to  see  us  and  know  much  that  we  are 
doing.  If  we  had  telescopes  of  equal  power, 
communication  might  be  had  by  way  of  signals, 
out  of  which  would  spring  a  language  intelli- 
gible to  both  ;  then  we  could  exchange  thoughts, 
experiences,  and  histories.  From  such  an  ex- 
change we,  of  course,  would  be  the  gainers, 
provided  their  progress,  from  the  beginning, 
has  been  as  rapid  as  ours,  because  the  race  there 
has  existed  longer.  Perhaps  in  their  past,  at 
some  time,  they  were  where  we  are  now.  If 
so,  and  if  we  could  gain  access  to  their  libraries 
and  in  their  ancient  histories  find  the  present 
status  of  our  civilization,  how  prophetic  their 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  7 

subsequent  history  would  be  of  what  lies  before 
us  !  In  the  light  of  such  subsequent  history, 
how  clearly  we  might  read  our  way  out  of  many 
serious  questions  that  now  confront  us  in  our 
march  of  civilization,  and  thus,  profiting  by 
their  experience,  we  might  progress  in  a  few 
hundred  years  over  what  required  thousands  of 
years  with  them.  They  might  quickly  convey 
to  us  what  they  have  slowly  learned,  and  thus 
we  might  attain  with  a  bound  what  has  cost 
them  long  cycles  of  blunderings  and  suft'erings 
in  the  slow  progress  of  learning  by  experience. 


A    DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER    I. 

The  preceding  ^vas  written  with  no  definite 
object  in  view,  except  to  follow  a  habit,  long 
since  established,  of  putting  on  paper  any  novel 
trains  of  thought,  afterwards  to  be  worked  into 
an  essay  or  thrown  into  the  trash-basket,  as 
mood  might  suggest.  The  act  of  writing  puts 
a  thought  into  expressible  form,  and  tends  to 
fix  it  in  the  mind.  After  writing,  I  found  my 
mind  in  a  thoughtful  and  somewhat  speculative 
mood,  and  possessed  of  an  uncontrollable  desire 
to  know  more  of  the  people  of  Mars.  This 
feeling  finally  became  so  strong  as  to  suspend 
consciousness  of  my  surroundings.  I  awoke 
to  consciousness  on  the  planet  Mars.  How 
j)T  when  I  got  there  I  do  not  know ;  but  my 
heart's  desire  was  realized, — I  was  there.  I 
was  astonished  and  bewildered  by  all  I  saw. 

Mars  is  much  smaller  than  the  Earth,  but  its 
population  is  so  dense  that  it  has  about  twice  as 
many  people.  Its  days  have  about  the  same 
length  as  ours,  but  its  seasons  are  much  longer, 
the  year  being  six  hundred  and  eighty-seven 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  9 

days.  Its  surface  is  composed  of  land  and 
water  in  about  the  same  proportion  as  the  Earth. 
What  most  impressed  me  at  first,  and  all  the 
time,  was  the  people,  even  before  I  had  learned 
their  language,  so  as  to  hold  any  conversation 
with  them.  Almost  every  one  I  saw  seemed  to 
be  in  robust  health  and  in  a  happy  and  contented 
state  of  mind.  The  entire  absence  of  large 
cities  was  very  noticeable.  The  people  seemed 
to  be  quite  evenly  distributed  over  the  land  sur- 
face of  the  planet,  the  density  of  population 
being  affected  only  by  the  comparative  fertility 
of  the  soil  or  desirable  mineral  deposits.  Edu- 
cational institutions  seemed  plentiful  every- 
where, and  to  be  w^ell  patronized,  while  penal 
institutions  and  almshouses  were  very  few.  All 
seemed  ambitious  and  industrious,  yet  there  was 
none  of  the  hurry  and  scramble  to  which  I  had 
so  long  been  accustomed.  Their  manners  were 
easy  and  graceful,  gentility  was  universal,  salu- 
tations were  universally  exchanged  when  peoi)le 
met,  whether  acquainted  or  not,  and  they  ad- 
dressed each  other  in  language  of  deference  and 
respect,  but  entirely  without  regard  to  rank. 

At  first  the  ladies  did  not  impress  me  as  pos- 
sessed of  much  beauty.  The  frail,  delicate, 
wasp-like  forms  to  which  we  are  so  accustomed 
here,  where  nature's  forms  are  compressed  out 
of  shape  to  conform  to  artificial  standards  of 


10  A   DREAM  OF 

aesthetics,  are  not  to  be  found  there.  I  very- 
soon,  however,  became  not  only  reconciled  to, 
but  a  great  admirer  of,  their  style  of  beauty, 
and  almost  every  woman  was  really  beautiful. 
No  one  looked  coarse  or  gross.  Their  wonder- 
ful temperance  in  eating  and  drinking,  and  the 
absence  of  excessive  excitement  of  every  kind, 
make  health  universal.  Obesity  is  not  known, 
neither  is  excessive  leanness.  All  are  robust 
and  healthy.  The  blood  is  pure,  the  complex- 
ion wonderfully  clear  and  roseate.  Their  happy 
and  contented  life  for  many  generations  past 
has  left  its  hereditary  impress  on  the  features 
in  lines  of  beauty  on  the  faces  of  both  women 
and  men.  The  laws  of  health  seem  to  be  well 
understood  and  religiously  observed.  Such  has 
been  the  case  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  ; 
hence  there  are  no  blood-taints,  no  transmitted 
diseases.  Every  one  inherits  a  good  constitu- 
tion, physical,  intellectual,  and  moral ;  and  from 
earliest  infancy  they  are  trained  to  habits  of 
strict  obedience  to  the  laws  of  health  of  these 
three  elements  of  their  natures. 

Another  thing  that  attracted  my  special  at- 
tention was  the  fact  that  there  was  but  one  lan- 
guage spoken  on  the  planet.  Whatever  part 
of  the  planet  the  people  came  from,  they  readily 
conversed  with  and  understood  each  other,  and 
the  same  appearance  and  habits  seemed  to  pre- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  H 

vail  everywhere.  All  seemed  well  informed, 
and  all  were  religious.  Their  relis-ion  did  not 
seem  to  be  so  much  a  doctrine  as  a  life. 

They  professed  little,  but  practised  much. 
Their  religion  controlled  them  in  all  they  did. 
It  seemed  to  be  born  in  them,  and  had  a  con- 
trolling influence  from  the  beginning  of  life. 
There  appeared  to  be  no  sectarian  strife  what- 
ever; in  fact,  I  saw  no  indication  of  there 
being  any  sects.  They  had  places  and  societies 
for  worship,  but  I  saw  nothing  to  indicate  any 
divisions  on  doctrinal  lines.  Places  of  worship 
were  so  distributed  and  located  as  to  best  accom- 
modate the  worshippers.  I  do  not  mean  that 
they  all  thought  just  alike  on  religious  ques- 
tions, for  evidently  they  did  not.  On  what 
constituted  a  proper  religious  life  there  were  no 
differences,  so  that  persons  entertaining  different 
views  on  matters  having  no  bearing  on  practical 
life  worshipped  together,  and  yet  all  could  en- 
gage in  a  friendly  discussion  of  non-essentials. 
Their  places  of  worship  were  neat,  convenient, 
and  comfortable,  but  never  gaudy  or  expensive. 
Their  forms  of  worship  were  very  simple  and 
direct.  They  appeared  to  have  but  little  use 
for  priests  or  potentates.  Their  religion  was  a 
personal  religion.  Each  individual  recognized 
his  personal  and  direct  responsibility  to  God 
for  what  he   was   and   what  he   did.     There 


12  A   DREAM  OF 

seemed  to  be  no  effort  or  desire  to  enforce  uni- 
formity of  belief  or  ritual.  The  individual  is 
acknowledged  as  the  unit  of  society,  and  indi- 
vidualism is  encouraged  and  taught  everywhere. 
Their  whole  system  of  religion  and  education 
seems  to  aim  to  make  each  individual  strong 
in  himself,  self-reliant,  self-controlled,  conscious 
of  personal  independence,  and  acknowledging 
his  personal  responsibility  only  to  God  and  to 
the  laws  and  regulations  necessary  in  a  well- 
ordered  state. 

Courts  of  justice  seemed  to  have  but  little  to 
do.  It  was  rarely  in  the  lifetime  of  a  judge 
that  he  would  have  a  single  criminal  case  be- 
fore him.  And  the  civil  cases  were  remarkable 
for  the  entire  absence  of  acrimony  and  unkind 
feelings  exhibited  in  them.  Parties  came  into 
court  when  there  was  an  honest,  conscientious 
difference  of  opinion,  which  both  desired  should 
be  adjusted  aud  settled.  I  saw  no  implements 
of  war,  no  war- vessels,  and  no  military  fortifi- 
cations or  other  defences,  yet  in  some  places  I 
saw  evidences  of  these  having  existed  in  the 
distant  past.  Large  cities  with  protective  walls 
and  fortified  positions  there  had  been,  but  all 
had  gone  to  decay,  and  their  material  had  been 
converted  to  other  uses, — "  beaten  into  plough- 
shares and  pruning-hooks." 

Property  was  much  more  evenly  distributed 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  13 

than  here.  There  seemed  to  be  no  very  rich 
and  no  very  poor  people,  but  all  seemed  to  have 
enough,  and  therewith  to  be  content.  Very 
few  were  dependent  on  others  for  support,  but 
each  endeavored,  by  honest  labor,  to  produce 
the  full  equivalent  of  what  he  or  she  consumed. 
Their  dress  and  their  simple  food  and  drink 
were  so  inexpensive  that  ordinary  industry  was 
sufficient  to  supply  abundantly  all  necessary 
wants,  and  there  appeared  no  disposition  to 
increase  these  wants  by  any  luxurious  or  expen- 
sive habits.  In  fact,  any  tendencies  towards 
such  habits  met  with  universal  disapproval  and 
were  very  unpopular.  There  was  nothing  like 
communism  anywhere  perceptible.  Property, 
beyond  what  was  necessary  for  plain,  healthful 
living,  was  not  desirable,  for  it  gave  no  more 
influence  and  no  better  social  position,  and  con- 
sequently would  only  increase  one's  cares  and 
responsibilities,  with  no  increased  advantages. 
Social  position  was  won  only  by  intelligence 
and  usefulness,  while  the  possession  of  un needed 
wealth  so  distracted  the  attention  as  to  hinder 
one  in  attaining  these  desirable  ends.  The  in- 
vention of  labor-saving  machinery  was  much 
encouraged,  and  the  inventors  of  such  were 
greatly  honored.  Useful  and  practical  inven- 
tions had  been  carried  to  far  greater  perfection 
than  with  us.  Nearly  all  fatiguing  labor  was 
'  2 


14  A   DREAM  OF 

done  with  machinery, — so  that  persons  only 
needed  to  supervise  the  machines, — and  thereby 
the  hours  of  labor  were  much  reduced,  and  the 
people  were  hopefully  looking  forward  to  the 
time  when  machines  would  be  so  perfected  as  to 
allow  the  operators  to  supervise  them  with  but 
little  interruption  of  reading  and  study.  They 
have  nothing  corresponding  to  our  saloons,  or 
gambling-houses,  or  club-halls,  etc.  Relief 
from  labor  is  sought  only  for  the  purpose  of 
having  more  time  for  personal  improvement. 
But  the  sense  of  justice  is  too  strong  to  permit 
one  to  get  this  time  by  employing  others  to  do 
his  individual  work. 

In  dress  they  had  a  simple,  inexpensive,  but 
neat  and  graceful  costume,  common  to  all  the 
people  everywhere.  These  costumes  for  the 
men  and  women  differed  but  slightlv,  suffi- 
ciently,  however,  easily  to  distinguish  the  sexes. 

These  costumes  being  universal,  there  was  no 
chasing  or  studying  of  fashion,  and  no  remodel- 
ling of  garments ;  consequently  all  could  and 
did  dress  well.  A  garment  was  in  fashion 
until  worn  out.  So,  while  there  was  no  lack 
of  comfort  as  to  food  and  clothing,  and  no 
lack  of  neatness  or  even  of  elegance,  yet  the 
expense  of  living  seemed  to  be  reduced  to  the 
minimum. 

They  were  all  scrupulously  clean.     Cleanli- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  15 

ness  was  nearer  than  "  next  to  godliness  :"  it 
seemed  to  be  a  part  of  it.  The  daily  bath  was 
universal,  so  that  the  disease,  with  us  known 
as  "  a  cold/'  was  almost  unknown.  "  A  cold," 
we  understand  here,  fits  the  system  for  nearly 
all  other  fonns  of  disease ;  consequently  most 
of  our  diseases  begin  with  colds.  On  Mars 
their  simple  and  regular  habits  of  eating  and 
drinking,  and  dressing,  and  bathing,  protect 
them  fully  from  "  colds."  Sickness  is  scarcely 
known.  Their  longevity  is  remarkable,  for 
men  are  in  the  full  vigor  of  manhood  at  the 
ase  of  one  hundred. 

Of  course,  when  I  found  myself  on  ]Mars,  I 
was  very  awkwardly  situated.  I  was  trans- 
ported to  that  strange  land,  how  and  when  .1  do 
not  know.  I  had  made  no  preparations  for 
the  trip.  I  had  "  neither  purse  nor  scrip,"  and 
no  "  letter  of  credit."  I  was  a  stranger,  and  a 
strange  stranger,  in  a  strange  land.  I  could 
not  understand  a  word  of  their  language,  nor 
they  a  word  of  mine.  Yet  into  the  first  house 
I  entered  I  was  most  heartily  welcomed.  By 
turning  my  pockets  inside  out  and  shaking 
them,  I  made  them  understand  my  poverty. 
The  inmates  of  the  house  seemed  at  once  to 
com]>rehend  the  situation.  Though  filled  with 
wondering  astonishment  at  my  strange  appear- 
ance, they,  by  kindly  attention  and  appropriate 


16  A   DREAM  OF 

gestures,  made  me  feel  that  their  home  was  my 
home  and  their  possessions  were  mine.  Every- 
where on  the  planet  I  received  the  same  cordial 
treatment. 

I  began  to  doubt  my  senses,  my  identity, 
and  doubt  as  to  where  I  really  was.  I  began 
to  think  I  had  died  on  earth  and,  by  some  un- 
deserved favor,  had  gone  to  heaven,  for  I  had 
never  dreamed  of  such  people  out  of  heaven. 
I  could  see  no  "  great  white  throne,"  nor  did  I 
discover  that  all  the  people  were  singing  psalms, 
nor  did  I  hear  the  clangor  of  horns  about  which 
I  had  heard  so  much,  and  of  which  I  had  some 
dread.  I  was  never  fond  of  too  much  music, 
an(J  it  never  took  a  great  deal  to  be  too  much. 
But  the  people  seemed  good  enougli,  pure 
enough,  and  happy  enough  to  be  the  inhabitants 
of  heaven.  They  were  heavenly  in  disposition, 
and  heavenly  in  conduct.  But  I  saw  that  I  had 
my  earthly  body  and  my  earthly  garments,  and 
I  was  sure  that  neither  "  body  nor  boots"  go 
to  heaven.  So  I  concluded  that  I  was  with 
people  like  myself,  except  that  they  were  al- 
most infinitely  nearer  perfection. 

Whenever  I  went  out  from  the  home  where 
I  first  stopped,  they  would  give  me  a  card  on 
which  they  would  write,  in  substance,  "He  is 
from  Earth.  Show  him  kindness  and  attention." 
Such  I  later  found  to  be  the  true  translation  of 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  17 

this  card.  It  served  well  its  purpose,  for  the 
people  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  their 
efforts  to  do  me  favors. 

When  I  commenced  studying  their  language, 
I  could  not  readily  see  how  I  was  to  pay 
teachers,  buy  necessary  books,  etc.  But  here 
again  every  want  was  more  than  supplied, 
without  money  and  without  price.  The  in- 
scription on  my  card  was  made  to  read,  "  He  is 
from  Earth,  studying  our  language.  Help  him." 
This  card  made  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
I  met  my  teacher, — and  such  dclighful  teachers 
as  they  were !  They  thoroughly  understand 
what  they  want  to  teach,  and  they  know  ex- 
actly how  to  teach  it.  I  afterwards  Jearned  that 
every  child  is  carefully  instructed  in  the  art  of 
teaching,  and  parents  practise  this  art,  w^isely 
and  well,  in  the  training  of  their  own  children. 
I  had  become  somewhat  familiar  with  the  Eng- 
lish, French,  and  German  languages,  and  in 
my  younger  days  knew  something  of  Latin 
and  Greek,  and  I  had  heard  many  other  lan- 
guages spoken  ;  but  the  language  of  INIars  was 
radically  different  from  any  I  had  ever  read  or 
heard.  I  was  therefore  expecting  great  diffi- 
culty in  learning  to  speak  and  read  this  new  and 
singular  language.  The  reader  may  judge  of 
my  happy  surprise  when  I  found  it  very  easy 
to  acquire.  In  the  short  space  of  three  months 
b  2* 


18  A   DREAM  OF 

(our  time)  I  could  speak  it  with  considerable 
fluency,  and  within  six  months  I  could  read 
and  write  it  with  great  satisfaction.  Their 
written  and  printed  language  is  entirely  pho- 
netic ;  so  I  had  only  to  learn  the  elementary 
sounds,  and  the  characters  or  letters  represent- 
ing those  sounds,  when  I  could  read  easily  any 
of  their  printed  books. 

Before  learning  their  language  I  could  acquire 
knowledge  only  through  my  eyes,  and,  for  want 
of  explanations,  I  only  understood  a  small 
fraction  of  what  I  saw.  Now  my  ears  were 
opened,  and  my  tongue  was  loosened,  and  I 
rapidly  gained  a  knowledge  of  my  surroundings. 
I  had  all  along  been  exceedingly  anxious  to 
learn  to  read,  so  as  to  look  into  their  libraries, 
hoping  that  there  I  might  discover  the  route  by 
which  these  people  had  reached  their  high  civili- 
zation and  almost  perfect  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. So  I  labored  hard,  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  and  had  freely  all  the  help  I  could  pos- 
sibly use.  In  every  house  there  was  a  good 
library,  and  in  every  neighborhood  a  large 
public  library  of  books  for  consultation  and 
reference,  but  these  were  not  allowed  to  be  taken 
from  the  library  buildings.  The  studious  habits 
and  the  intelligence  of  the  people  may  be  judged 
by  their  use  of  these  great  libraries.  Almost 
the  whole  population,  excepting  young  children, 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  19 

will  be  found  in  them  during  some  portions  of 
nearly  every  day. 

Their  language  is  peculiar  in  other  respects 
besides  being  phonetic.  They  use  fewer  words 
to  express  the  same  idea  than  we  do.  Their 
style  is  peculiarly  direct  and  pungent.  Many 
of  their  words  express  what  would  require  a 
clause  or  sentence  with  us. 

They  have  another  peculiarity.  When  I  first 
began  to  read  their  books,  particularly  those 
of  a  philosophical  character,  their  style  seemed 
veiy  dogmatic.  Their  assertions  seemed  to  be 
without  the  support  of  any  legitimate  process 
of  reasoning,  but,  as  I  extended  my  studies,  I 
found  this  was  true  only  in  appearance,  as  the 
reasoning  could  always  be  read  between  the 
lines.  To  avoid  multiplying  words  and  lumber- 
ing sentences,  they  seem  to  have  cultivated  the 
habit  of  stating  the  results  of  their  reasonings 
in  such  direct  and  logical  order  as  to  make  the 
process  at  once  inferable  and  apparent. 


20  ^   DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER    II. 

These  libraries  contained  very  interesting 
revelations  to  me.  The  laws  of  evolution  had 
operated  there  as  here.  Man  has  gone  through 
the  same  stages  of  development  there  as  here. 
The  history  of  our  race  here  up  to  the  present 
time  is  described  more  perfectly  in  their  books 
than  in  any  we  have.  About  three  thousand 
years  ago  the  people  of  Mars  were  in  the  same 
condition  our  people  are  in  to-day,  and  had 
the  same  unsolved  problems  confronting  thera. 
They  had  many  nations  and  many  tongues. 
Their  governments  differed  widely  from  each 
other,  and  their  interests,  as  they  then  consid- 
ered them,  conflicted  with  each  other.  Hence 
there  were  strifes,  and  bloodshed,  and  wars  of 
one  nation  against  another. 

In  religious  sentiments  they  were  much  more 
divided  than  on  political  questions.  Their 
religion  consisted  more  in  codes  of  belief,  in 
creeds,  than  in  life  and  practice.  I  found  that 
in  the  early  historic  age  of  the  church  they  had 
an  organization  exactly  resembling  our  ancient 
Jewish  church,  with  its  teachers  and  prophets, 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  21 

its  priests  and  doctors,  its  temples  and  altars 
and  sacrifices.  Their  Egypt  and  Greece  and 
Rome  and  Constantinople  had  existed,  had  had 
their  day,  left  their  impress,  and  passed  into 
oblivion. 

When  the  times  were  ripe,  a  Christ  had  ap- 
peared there  as  here,  and  took  to  them  the  same 
message  from  the  Father,  the  same  gospel  that 
our  Christ  brought  to  us.  He  found  there,  as 
our  Christ  found  here,  the  people  buried  in 
corruption  ever^nivhere.  Even  in  the  Jewish 
church  all  practical  religion  was  lost  in  forms, 
and  ceremonies,  and  burnt-offerings,  and  blood- 
sacrifices.  Religion  was  objective,  and  never 
subjective.  It  consisted  in  the  practice  of  rites 
and  ceremonies,  and  not  in  personal  character. 
The  teachings  of  their  Christ,  as  of  ours,  con- 
sisted in  a  subjective  religion, — a  religion  of 
the  heart,  the  source  of  thought  and  action ;  a 
religion  of  love,  that  reached  out  to  strangers 
and  even  to  enemies,  that  returned  good  for 
evil,  that  recognized  all  men  as  brethren ;  a 
religion  of  justice,  that  metes  out  to  every  one 
his  own,  and  that  leads  one  to  do  unto  others 
as  he  would  that  others  should  do  unto  him. 
He  taught  that  God  was  not  merely  the  pei-soni- 
fication  of  justice,  power,  and  authority,  heard 
only  in  thunders  and  lightnings,  in  earthquakes 
and  tornadoes,  in  famines  and  pestilences ;  but 


22  A   DREAM  OF 

that  he  was  also  a  Father,  possessed  in  an  in- 
finite degree  of  all  the  attributes  of  a  father, 
endowed  with  infinite  love  and  mercy  and  com- 
passion, with  an  ear  open  to  penitence,  and  wait- 
ing in  mercv  to  foryive. 

Their  Christ,  like  ours,  was  crucified,  dead, 
and  buried.  His  disciples,  like  the  disciples 
of  our  Christ,  only  partially  understood  their 
Master,  only  partially  comprehended  his  char- 
acter and  mission.  They  were  of  the  people 
we  call  Jews,  had  been  reared  and  educated  in 
the  Jewish  church,  and  could  not  fully  rid  them- 
selves of  certain  Jewish  teachings  which  were 
in  conflict  with  the  whole  spirit  of  Christ's 
teachings,  and,  consequently,  they  carried  over 
much  of  this  early  education  into  the  Christian 
church,  and  for  two  thousand  years  Christianity 
was  made  to  suffer  by  being  loaded  down  by  Ju- 
daism to  an  extent  not  justified  by  the  teachings 
of  Christ.  Yet,  for  a  little  over  three  hundred 
years,  Christianity  was  a  life-principle,  a  heart- 
religion,  and,  its  votaries  being  persecuted  by 
the  civil  and  military  powers,  it  was  maintained 
in  its  purity,  substantially  as  taught  by  Christ. 
But  a  little  over  three  hundred  years  after  the 
crucifixion  of  Christ,  a  ruler,  answering  exactly 
to  our  Emperor  Constantino,  adopted  Christian- 
ity as  the  state  religion.  Then,  at  once,  perse- 
cution ceased,  and  priests  and  bishops  of  the 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  23 

Christian  church  began  to  fawn  on  power,  and 
in  return  obtained  authority  to  enforce  their 
ecclesiastical  decrees.  This  power  soon  cor- 
rupted the  lives  of  church  officials,  and  conse- 
quently their  religion.  They  began  to  add  to 
the  teachings  of  Christ,  and  what  they  added 
was  not  always  in  accord  with  what  Christ 
taught.  They  also  began  to  omit  much  that 
was  essential  in  Christianity,  as  promulgated 
by  Christ.  Their  Christian  church,  for  the 
first  nineteen  hundred  years  of  its  existence, 
was  almost  literally  the  same  as  ours  up  to  this 
time.  They  passed  the  point  where  we  now 
are  somewhat  more  than  three  thousand  years 
ago. 

The  adoption  of  Christianity  as  the  state 
religion  opened  their  courts  of  state  to  the 
Christian  bishops  and  priests;  but  this  does 
not  mean  that  members  of  the  court  practised 
any  Christian  self-denial,  or  abstained  from  any 
of  the  then  court  pleasures.  The  priesthood 
lowered  its  standard  of  Christian  life  to  adapt 
it  to  court  life.  To  maintain  such  lives  and 
still  remain  Christian  required  that  the  standard 
of  Christianity  must  also  be  lowered.  The 
Christian  religion  must  become  more  pliable 
and  indulgent,  so  the  doctrine  of  substitution 
was  devised  and  added  to  Christian  doctrine. 
This  doctrine  meant  that  pereonal  character  had 


24  A   DREAM  OF 

but  little  to  do  with  salvation, — that  when  man 
had  lived  as  perfectly  as  he  knew  how,  and  to 
the  fullest  extent  in  his  power  followed  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  Saviour,  still  he  fell  far  short 
of  what  was  demanded.  To  meet  this  demand 
they  held  that  the  righteousness  of  Christ  must 
be  set  to  man's  credit,  so  that  man  was  to  be 
saved,  not  because  he  had  any  merit,  but  be- 
cause of  the  merit  of  Christ.  If  man  believed 
in  Christ,  and  had  faith  that  Christ's  merit 
would  at  last  be  placed  to  his  credit,  without 
regard  to  his  own  personal  character,  such  faith 
would  secure  him  everlasting  life. 

This  doctrine  took  the  heart  and  vitality 
of  Christ's  teachings  out  of  Christianity,  and 
thereby  left  a  Christless  Christianity,  well  fitted 
for  a  court  religion.  The  state  was  not  Chris- 
tianized so  much  as  Christianity  was  secular- 
ized. 

The  common  people  in  the  Christian  church 
were  slow  to  adopt  this  innovation,  but  the 
priesthood,  having  free  access  to  court,  rapidly 
gained  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  power. 
Synods  were  called,  wherein  were  assembled 
the  priests  and  bishops  of  nearly  all  the  Chris- 
tian churclies,  by  the  quasi-autliority  of  the 
state.  These  synods  fully  adopted  this  and 
other  innovations,  and  declared  their  non-ac- 
ceptance heresy. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  25 

There  was  a  series  of  rulers  there,  known  as 
the  Christian  emperors,  but  their  modern  his- 
torians give  these  emperors  little  credit  for  their 
Christianity.  They  charge  them  with  nomi- 
nally adopting  Christianity  merely  to  strengthen 
their  hold  upon  the  government  among  the  peo- 
ple and  to  get  the  benefit  of  Christian  enthu- 
siasm in  their  armies.  They  tried,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  harmonize  Christianity  with  the 
surrounding  paganism,  and  thus,  by  the  aid 
of  a  corrupted,  power-seeking  priesthood,  they 
did  much  more  to  paganize  Christianity  than 
to  Christianize  paganism. 

All  idol-worshipping  tribes  there,  as  here,  in 
olden  times,  and  also  their  people  corresponding 
to  our  Jews,  had  for  many  ages  been  familiar 
with  the  idea  of  placating  the  wrath  of  their 
gods  by  sacrifices.  In  early  historic  times 
parents  sacrificed  their  children,  and  in  times 
of  public  calamities  the  rulers  levied  upon  the 
adult  populations  for  public  sacrifice.  The 
shedding  of  human  blood,  and  the  taking  of 
human  life  on  their  consecrated  altars,  was 
common  on  Mars  in  early  historic  days. 

They  have  a  Bible,  as  we  have,  a  Bible  of 
Old  and  New  Testament  Scriptures.  While 
the  verbal  expressions  often  differ  from  ours, 
yet  in  substance  their  Bible  is  like  ours. 

The  idea  that  God's  displeasure  could  be 
B  3 


26  A   DREAM  OF 

placated,  and  his  punishments  bought  off  by 
blood-sacrifices,  remained  a  prominent  feature 
in  their  Jewish  church  until  long  after  the 
coming  of  Christ.  The  same  idea,  in  the  form 
of  self-inflicted  sufferings  as  penance,  was  prac- 
tised in  their  so-called  Christian  churches  for 
many  centuries  thereafter. 

In  one  of  their  libraries  I  found  an  interest- 
ing old  book,  published  about  three  thousand 
years  ago,  when  their  civilization  corresponded 
with  ours  at  the  present  time.  In  this  book 
I  was  greatly  interested.  It  treated  at  length 
of  their  Jewish  sacrificial  system  and  its  effect 
on  Christianity.  I  will  quote  a  few  sentences 
from  it : 

"  Language  is  never  quite  ready  adequately 
to  express  new  ideas,  or,  rather,  the  thoughts 
of  new  systems,  either  in  matters  of  science  or 
religion.  So  at  first  the  new  must  be  expressed 
in  the  language  of  the  old.  This  fact  often 
causes  too  much  of  the  old  to  be  carried  over 
into  the  new,  and  causes  more  or  less  ambiguity 
and  confusion.  The  old  ideas,  are  prone  to 
stick  to  the  language,  even  when  the  language 
is  used  to  express  the  new  ideas.  Later  on, 
every  science  or  system  gets  a  nomenclature 
and  phraseology  of  its  own,  when  its  defi- 
nitions and  lines  of  distinction  can  be  more 
shai'ply  drawn,  and  there  can    then  be  more 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  27 

accuracy   of   expression   and   less  liability  of 
misleading  or  being  misled. 

"To  avoid  this  danger  in  the  introduction 
of  a  new  science  or  a  new  religion  requires  a 
master-mind,  one  that  is  master  of  both  thought 
and  expression.  Christ  had  this  ability  to  an 
unequalled  degree.  By  the  use  of  known  ex- 
periences, parables,  recognized  figures,  etc.,  he 
was  able  at  once  in  his  discourses  to  distinguish 
between  the  new  and  the  old, — between  the  old 
objective  religion  and  the  new  subjective.  He 
at  once  arraigns  not  the  outward  wrongful  act 
alone,  but  the  inward  motive, — the  state  of  the 
heart  which  leads  to  the  act.  And  how  vividly 
he  draws  the  line  !  how  clearly  he  defines  the 
difference  !  '  Ye  have  heard  tliat  it  hath  been 
said.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery  :  but  I 
say  unto  you.  That  whosoever  looketh  on  a 
woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath  committed  adultery 
with  her  already  in  his  heart.'  How  clearly 
and  vividly  this  brings  the  heart-religion  into 
view !  Also,  '  Ye  shall  know  the  tree  by  its 
fruit,  the  fountain  by  its  water,  the  quality  of 
the  heart  by  the  life  that  flows  from  it.'  But 
the  disciples  and  apostles  were  not  equally 
happy  in  possessing  this  ability.  Christ  in  his 
teachings  nowhere  teaches  that  blood-sacrifice 
has  any  part  or  place  in  his  religion,  but  dis- 
tinctly teaches  that  the  Father  will  not  have 


28  ^    DREAM  OF 

sacrifice,  other  than  a  contrite  heart,  a  broken 
spirit. 

"Yet  Christ  had  scarcely  left  Mars  at  the 
hands  of  the  murderous  Jews  before  the  Juda- 
ism of  the  disciples  and  the  paganism  of  the 
Gentile  Christians  began  to  work  up  the  cru- 
cifixion of  Christ  as  a  blood-sacrifice,  in  the 
oifering  of  which  Christ's  murderers  were  dig- 
nified as  God's  officiating  priests.  This  sacri- 
fice was  to  atone  for  the  sins  of  all  men  in  all 
time  who  accept  Clirist  and  believe  in  him. 
Suc^h  a  doctrine  finds  no  foundation  in  the 
teachings  of  Christ,  none  in  the  nature  of  man, 
and  none  in  the  character  of  God  as  portrayed 
by  Christ.  During  the  reign  of  the  so-called 
Christian  emperors,  when  Christianity  had  been 
alloyed  and  begun  to  deteriorate  under  state 
patronage,  and  the  resultant  corruption  of  the 
priesthood,  an  attempt  was  made  to  lay  a  basis 
for  this  sacrificial  theory,  by  begetting  a  trinity 
of  persons  in  the  Godhead.  So  this  was  also 
added  to  the  articles  of  faith,  and  to  call  it  in 
question  was  heresy." 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  29 


CHAPTER    III. 

As  I  have  before  said,  the  people  of  Mars 
are  about  three  thousand  years  in  advance  of 
where  we  are,  or,  at  least,  their  books  indicate 
that  three  thousand  years  ago  everything  re- 
lating to  humanity  coincided  with  our  present 
condition.  By  years  I  mean  our  years,  not 
theirs.  The  year  on  Mars  is  equal  to  almost 
two  years  on  the  earth.  So,  to  avoid  confu- 
sion, we  will  indicate  time  there  by  our  own 
measurements. 

Mars,  like  the  earth,  has  an  eastern  and  a 
western  continent,  separated  by  navigable  seas. 
As  here,  the  eastern  was  first  inhabited.  The 
western  was  settled  by  emigration  from  the 
eastern.  The  first  settlers  went  west,  either  to 
avoid  religious  persecution,  or  with  the  hope 
of  accumulating  wealth  more  rapidly.  Both 
classes,  too,  carried  with  them  courage  and 
industry.  Both  classes  exhibited  as  ruling 
characteristics  personal  courage,  intensity  of 
thought,  strong  will,  and  economy,^ust  the 
elements  to  make  a  grand  population,  when  so 
adjusted  as  to  work  harmoniously.  But  the 
3* 


30  A   DREAM  OF 

two  classes  were  not  congenial  for  many  years. 
One  class  was  in  quest  of  riches,  the  other  of 
religious  liberty.  Their  early  settlements  be- 
came colonies  of  the  governments  of  the  Eastern 
World,  but  they  were  too  widely  separated  from 
the  parent  governments,  both  by  distance  and 
by  sentiment,  to  render  these  relations  enduring. 
So  in  process  of  time,  after  a  bloody  struggle 
lasting  several  years,  these  colonies  severed 
their  colonial  relations  with  eastern  govern- 
ments, and,  by  uniting  together,  formed  a  strong 
government  of  their  own,  wherein  the  ultimate 
political  power  remained  in  the  people  at  large. 

The  Old  World  prophesied  that  the  new 
government  was  essentially  weak  in  its  princi- 
ples and  plan,  and  would  soon  go  to  pieces. 
They  watched  and  waited,  only  to  see  it  con- 
stantly growing  in  strength  and  in  the  confi- 
dence not  of  its  own  people  alone,  but  of  the 
common  people  all  over  the  planet.  The 
thought  of  self-government  was  enchanting 
to  liberty-loving  people  everywhere, — so  they 
flocked  from  the  Old  World  into  the  New  in 
vast  numbers,  and  it  rapidly  became  peopled 
by  all  tongues,  and  all  grades  of  intelligence 
and  civilization,  and  all  shades  of  religious 
sentiments. 

The  government  being  under  the  control  of 
the  people,  it  was  early  recognized  that  the  peo- 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  3I 

pie  should  be  intelligent ;  so  education  was 
popularized,  and  common  schools  were  every- 
where established,  and  gradually  made  as  free 
as  the  air  and  water  to  all.  In  the  early  his- 
tory of  this  educational  movement,  each  na- 
tionality desired  to  have  its  own  language 
taught  in  these  schools,  and,  when  any  con- 
siderable number  from  any  one  nation  were 
represented  in  one  school,  their  language  was 
allowed  to  be  taught.  But  the  influence  of 
this  was  in  time  discovered  to  be  bad,  as  it 
fostered  the  building  up  of  separate  clans  of 
the  different  nationalities,  and  stood  in  the  way 
of  that  entire  unification  of  the  people  essen- 
tial to  strength  and  extended  influence.  Finally 
only  the  language  prevailing  at  the  time  of  es- 
tablishing this  new  government  was  permitted 
to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools.  In  this  way 
they  became  a  great  people  of  one  language, 
with  their  kindred  scattered  among  all  nations 
over  all  the  world. 

These  western  people  were  filled  with  enter- 
prise, and,  as  they  increased  in  wealth,  became 
great  travellers.  In  visiting  the  homes  of  their 
ancestors,  in  the  Old  World,  speaking  only  the 
language  of  the  Xew  "World,  the  cars  of  the 
Old  World  speedily  became  accustomed  to  the 
language  of  the  New.  Thus  the  way  was 
rapidly  prepared  for  tlic  adoption  of  the  lau- 


32  A    DREAM  OF 

guage  of  this  Western  ^yorld  as  the  sole  lan- 
guage of  the  whole  planet.  To  prepare  it  for 
being  thus  adopted,  the  written  language  was 
improved  by  making  it  purely  phonetic. 

In  that  age  Mars  had  many  large  cities. 
Idle  people  seeking  employment,  and  idle  peo- 
ple who  desired  to  live  without  employment, 
flocked  to  these,  and  everywhere  the  cities  were 
the  gardens  for  the  cultivaton  of  vice  and  crime. 
Large  wealth  was  accumulated  in  the  hands  of 
the  few  all  over  the  planet,  and  poverty  and 
want  belonged  to  the  many.  The  few  lived  in 
luxury,  the  many  in  want,  and  neither  class 
were  serving  the  high  end  of  their  being. 
Inequality  and  unhappiness  everywhere  pre- 
vailed. Severe  laws  w^ere  enacted  for  the  pro- 
tection of  persons  and  property.  Prisons  and 
almshouses  were  everywhere  and  always  filled. 
Courts  of  justice  were  numerous,  and  were 
busily  engaged  in  punishing  crimes  and  settling 
property  disputes.  There  was  everywhere  a 
struggle  to  get  property  without  earning  it. 
Swindling  schemes  were  constantly  being  de- 
vised, and  conspiracies  formed  to  get  possession 
of  property  without  rendering  an  equivalent 
therefor.  If  schemers  succeeded  and  gained 
riches  by  their  conspiracies,  they  were  lauded 
as  men  of  great  ability,  and  immediately  took 
rank  in  so-called  good  society.     If  they  failed 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  33 

they  were  outcasts,  and  punished  as  criminals. 
Wealth  was  the  one  great  desideratum  every- 
where, all  the  time  ;  and  all  else— honor,  hon- 
esty, justice,  friendship,  and  even  religion— was 
sacrificed  on  the  altar  of   Mammon.      Social 
position  depended  on  wealth.     Coarse,  uncul- 
tured vulgarity,  if  backed  by  large  possessions, 
was  received  and  welcomed  into  the,  so-called, 
best  society  ;   while  refined,  educated  culture, 
if  poor,  was  excluded.     This  made  the  struggle 
so  intense  as  to  foster  and  half  approve  the 
great   volume   of   crime   which   then    existed. 
The  rich  struggled  to  get  richer,  and  this  strug- 
gle made  the  poor  poorer.     The  rich  vied  with 
each  other  in  Inxurious  equipages,  dress,  and 
living.     The  extravagant  luxury  of  the  rich 
was   a   constant    temptation  to   those    having 
smaller  yet  comfortable  incomes  to  live  beyond 
their  means,  and  often  to  be  guilty  of  pecula- 
tions, breaches  of  trust,  and  forgeries.     In  this 
way  vast   numbers   of   young   men   of   great 
promise  were  ruined. 

For  many  years  after  the  independence  of 
the  Western  World,  individuals  erected  small 
manufacturing  establishments  wherever  they 
could  find  cheap  power  and  sufficient  popula- 
tion, but  before  the  new  government  was  a 
century  old  manufacturing  concentrated  in 
cities,  and  small  capitalists  combined  together 


34  ^    DREAM  OF 

aud  organized  ou  the  general  plan  of  onr  cor- 
porations, and  erected  immense  establishments, 
employing  vast  numbei's  of  workmen.  This 
tended  to  the  rapid  growth  of  such  cities,  and 
the  employees  of  these  large  establishments  were 
crowded  together,  having  inadequate  accommo- 
dations, and  sacrificing  the  health,  comfort,  and 
often  the  virtue  of  their  families  in  consequence. 
New  impetus  was  thus  given  to  vice-and  crime. 
As  soon  as  such  large  numbers  of  laborers 
were  thrown  so  closely  together,  they  began  to 
organize  for  mutual  improvement.  This  led 
in  process  of  time,  as  employers  became  more 
avaricious,  to  organizations  having  for  their 
object  the  resistance  of  real  and  imaginary 
encroachments  upon  their  rights  by  their  em- 
ployers. These  organizations  accomplished 
much  good  and  much  harm  to  hand -la  borers. 
Good,  by  showing  to  their  employers  that  they 
had  rights  that  must  be  respected.  Harm,  (1) 
by  tending  to  establish  in  their  minds  the  idea 
that  manual  laborers  were  a  caste,  into  which 
one  was  born,  and  the  boundaries  of  which  few 
could  ever  hope  to  pass ;  (2)  by  severing  the 
cords  of  sympathy  between  the  laborers  and 
their  employers,  thereby  rendering  it  more  dif- 
ficult to  take  an  employee  into  the  proprietor- 
ship and  have  him  become  a  co-employer ;  (3) 
by  establishing  uniform  prices  for  labor, — thus 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  35 

taxing  the  mau  whose  diL'gence,  intelligence, 
and  skill  made  his  services  worth  much  more 
than  the  average,  to  support  the  one  whose 
ignorance,  indolence,  and  awdavardness  made 
his  services  worth  much  less  than  the  average, 
thereby  handicapping  diligent  skill  to  reward 
indolent  awkwardness,  and  lessening  the  motive 
to  attain  excellence  in  one's  calling ;  (4)  but  the 
worst  effect  of  these  associations,  and  the  one 
which  at  one  time  seems  to  have  threatened  to 
turn  the  wheels  of  progress  backward,  was 
their  tendency  to  destroy  that  independence  of 
their  members  so  necessary  in  a  government 
by  the  people.  There  was  nothing  that  so 
rapidly  developed  the  self-governing  principles 
in  these  Western  people  as  did  the  free  conflict 
of  mind  with  mind  in  their  direct  intercourse 
in  business  transactions.  Even  if  a  man  had 
nothing  to  sell  but  his  labor,  he  was  made  a 
stronger  and  more  self-reliant  man  by  himself 
looking  up  and  bargaining  with  the  man  who 
would  pay  the  most  for  it ;  but  in  these  associa- 
tions, at  one  time,  they  had  executive  committees, 
who  relieved  the  individual  members  from  this 
duty,  and  determined  for  them  when  they  should 
or  should  not  work,  and  settled  the  price  to  be 
paid  for  their  labor.  Under  such  management 
the  manual  laborers  became  more  and  more  de- 
pendent, and  were  rapidly  losing  the  spirit  of 


36  A   DREAM  OF 

self-control  and  self-reliance  that  made  them 
good  citizens  of  a  free  government.  Tlicse 
associations  about  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century  had  forced  nearly  the  entire  laboring 
population  to  join  them.  This  they  did  by 
combining  against  non-association  labor,  and 
applying  disgraceful  names  and  obnoxious 
epithets,  and  often  by  cruel  personal  abuse. 
Leaders  of  the  associations  would  harangue 
the  members  with  demagogical  efforts  bitterly 
to  prejudice  their  minds  against  all  M'ho  pos- 
sessed property,  and  thereby  aided  in  building 
up  a  communistic  spirit  in  the  land,  which 
largely  destroyed  respect  for  property  rights. 
The  result  was  a  society  filled  with  thieves, 
l^ickpockets,  burglars,  highway-robbers,  and 
even  with  anarchists  who  would  destroy  all 
government,  legislative  laws,  and  society  regu- 
lations. 

Destructive  associations  were  not  confined  to 
manual-laboring  classes,  but  men  of  property, 
capitalists,  also  combined  in  large  corporations 
for  manufacturing  and  transportation  purposes. 
These  associations  would  devise  new  means  to 
oppress  manual  laborers,  by  lessening  wages 
and  extending  the  hours  of  labor,  often  dis- 
regarding the  need  of  a  day  of  rest,  and  com- 
pelling their  employees  to  labor  the  whole 
seven  days  of  the  week.     These  corporations 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  37 

would  compete  with  each  other  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  the  price  of  their  wares,  in  order  to 
command  the  trade.  This  was  often  carried 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  result  in  over-produc- 
tion, and  the  consequent  reduction  of  prices  to 
such  a  point  that  it  was  impossible  to  pay  the 
laborers  sufficient  wages  for  the  adequate  sup- 
port of  themselves  and  their  families.  Finally 
these  large  corporations,  to  prevent  destructive 
competition,  combined  in  immensely  larger  cor- 
porations, resembling  our  pools  and  trusts. 
These  trusts  operated  by  curtailing  production, 
often  entirely  closing  the  works  of  a  large  cor- 
poration, and  throwing  out  of  employment  vast 
numbers  of  people.  They  took  good  care  to 
protect  their  own  profits,  but  showed  no  regard 
for  the  laborers.  Prices  of  products  would  be 
increased,  but  the  discharged  manual  laborers 
were  left  without  means  to  buy.  In  tliis  way 
the  breach  between  labor  and  capital  grew 
wider  and  wider,  while  the  real  interest  of  all 
demanded  that  no  breach  should  exist. 

Capital  did  other  great  wrongs.  It  bought 
itself  into  office,  throttled  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple, bri.bed  legislatux-es,  corrupted  judges,  and 
was  guilty  of  many  other  evils,  which  could 
only  be  brought  about  by  the  wrongful  use  of 
money. 

Another   source  of    hinderance   to   a  rapid 
4 


38  A   DREAM  OF 

advance  of  civilization  iu  the  Western  World 
was  found  in  the  condition  of  what  was  termed 
"  domestic  service."  The  scramble  for  position 
in  the  so-called  highest  social  circles,  and  the 
effort  to  keep  such  circles  exclusive,  had  bred 
in  people  of  wealth  more  or  less  contempt  for 
labor  or  laborers.  The  nearer  the  laborer  was 
brought  to  the  eiiiployer,  the  more  intense  the 
contempt  seemed  to  be.  The  women  of  wealthy- 
families  disdained  manual  labor  more  than  did 
the  men.  The  result  was  that  women  of  char- 
acter were  driven  out  of  domestic  service,  and 
took  places  as  clerks  in  offices  and  shops,  where 
they  were  exposal  to  greater  temptations,  and 
driven  to  less  healthful  but  more  respectable 
service.  Their  places  in  domestic  service  were 
largely  filled  by  a  lower  class,  often  unchaste 
and  in  many  ways  dishonest.  The  children  in 
these  families  were  necessarily  brought  in  con- 
tact with  these  defiled  women,  and  their  minds 
were  debauched  and  made  familiar  with  the 
worst  forms  of  vice,  often  before  they  were  old 
enough  to  know  the  meaning  of  what  they  saw 
or  heard.  Such  were  the  homes  of  many  pro- 
fessing Christian  families.  The  heads  of  these 
families  contributed  large  sums  to  scud  Chris- 
tian teachers  to  foreign  heathen,  while  employ- 
ino;  the  worst  kind  of  heathen  teachers  for  their 
own  children,  in  the  back  part  of  their  own 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  39 

dwellings.  These  domestics  were  rarely  invited 
to  attend  church  or  join  in  family  worship  with 
their  employers,  and,  if  invited,  were  not  ex- 
pected to  accept  the  invitation. 

The  effect  of  all  these  things,  and  of  what  grew 
out  of  them,  on  the  Christian  civilization  of 
the  planet,  especially  on  the  people  of  the  free 
AVesteru  World,  is  represented  as  fearful,  and 
as  threatening  to  turn  society  back  to  origi- 
nal barbarism.  The  nineteenth  century  closed, 
leaving  everything  out  of  joint  and  apparently 
tending  to  chaos.  Even  the  Christian  church 
seemed  almost  to  have  entirely  lost  its  function 
of  character-buildino;.  The  largest  branch  of 
this  church  would  condone  all  sins  except  re- 
fusal to  obey  the  mandates  of  tlic  priesthood, 
and  in  almost  all  the  other  branches  heresy,  or 
disbelief  in  their  particular  tenets,  was  the 
greatest  offence,  and  exposed  one  to  their  bit- 
terest anathemas. 

The  world  was  filled  with  great  activity  and 
enterprise,  but  very  largely  it  was  the  enter- 
prise of  greed, — greed  for  riches  or  for  personal 
aggrandizement.  These  riches  were  generally 
sought  by  preying  upon  each  other,  rather  than 
by  efforts  to  seize  the  laws  of  nature  and  or- 
ganize them  for  the  advantage  of  mankind,  in 
converting  idle  and  raw  material  to  beneficent 
use. 


40  ^    DREAM  OF 

The  only  hopeful  outlook  at  that  time  was 
the  growing  spirit  of  investigation,  of  broader 
and  more  accurate  thought.  The  general  dif- 
fusion of  education  and  the  gro^vth  of  intelli- 
gence were  rapidly  making  men  more  scientific, 
logical,  and  philosophical.  People  were  begin- 
ning to  recognize  the  fact  that  society  was  dis- 
jointed and  working  at  cross-purposes,  and 
many  were  looking  for  the  destructive  element, 
with  the  view  of  extirpating  it.  Many  theories 
for  so  doing  were  being  advanced,  and  many 
books  on  this  subject  were  published  about  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  and  beginning  of  the 
twentieth  centuries.  Some  of  the  theories  were 
plausible,  but  would  not  bear  the  test  of  close 
anal}'sis ;  many  were  entirely  Utopian ;  others 
had  elements  of  good,  but  lacked  the  support 
of  sound  foundations.  Many  of  these  theories 
were  interesting  and  made  charming  reading, 
but  we  have  neither  time  nor  space  for  them 
here.  This  spirit  of  inquiry  extended  well 
into  the  twentieth  century,  and  deepened  and 
broadened  as  it  extended.  All  of  the  wiser 
and  more  thoughtful  of  these  writers  early  dis- 
covered and  agreed  that  the  sense  of  justice,  the 
sense  of  what  was  right  and  wrong  between 
man  and  man,  whether  or  not  it  had  ever  been 
any  stronger,  had  been  debauched  for  so  many 
generations  past  that  it  had  become  too  feeble 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  41 

generally  to  assert  itself  in  human  transactions ; 
hence  the  almost  universal  scramble  to  over- 
reach and  out-wit  one  another.  These  writers 
recognized  that  any  plan  or  system  of  reforma- 
tion, that  failed  to  elevate  or  restore  the  sense 
of  justice  to  its  proper  controlling  influence  in 
the  dealings  between  man  and  man,  must  prove 
a  failure.  They  also  recognized  the  fact  that 
this  sense  could  only  be  reached  by  a  quickened 
conscience,  and  that  the  conscience  of  the  masses 
was  most  effectually  reached  through  the  church, 
— that  conscience  was  so  closely  allied  to  the 
religious  sense  as  to  be  quickest  and  most  effect- 
ually reached  through  that  sense. 

It  was  decided,  therefore,  by  the  most  ad- 
vanced and  able  thinkers  that  the  reform  must 
be  reached  through  the  Cliristian  church.  But 
to  fit  it  for  this  reform  work  the  church  itself 
must  be  reformed.  The  Christian  church  seemed 
to  have  strayed  far  from  Christ's  teachings. 
Christ  brought  his  gospel  to  the  poor.  When 
their  forerunner  of  Christ,  their  St.  John,  sent 
his  followers  to  Christ  to  inquire  of  him  whether 
he  was  the  real  Christ,  or  whether  they  should 
look  for  another,  Christ  answered  by  calling 
attention  to  his  works,  and  said,  "  Go  tell 
John,"  and,  after  enumerating  several  things, 
added  as  a  climax,  "and  the  poor  have  the 
gospel  preached  unto  them."  At  the  beginning 
4* 


42  A    DREAM  OF 

of  the  twentieth  century,  on  Mars,  the  gospel 
was  not  being  very  etTcctually  preached  to  the 
poor  generally.  The  churches,  especially  in 
the  cities,  where  reform  was  most  needed, 
preached  the  gospel  to  the  rich,  and  only  very 
sparingly  to  the  poor;  and  with  shame  it  is 
said  that  in  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  rich  it 
was  largely  shorn  of  its  life-giving  principles. 
It  was  fitted  for  the  palates  of  the  rich,  and 
care  was  pretty  generally  taken  not  to  offend 
those  palates  by  anything  distasteful. 

Most  of  the  churches  were  costly  edifices, 
finished  in  gorgeous  style,  making  large  expen- 
ditures necessary  to  support  and  maintain  them, 
— far  beyond  the  ability  of  the  poor  to  con- 
tribute. The  rich  parcelled  among  themselves 
all  the  desirable  seats.  Even  where  a  few  cor- 
ners were  reserved  for  those  unable  to  pay  pew- 
rent,  the  occupants  were  constantly  made  to  feel 
their  poverty,  when  contrasting  their  accom- 
modations with  those  of  people  who  were  able 
to  pay  for  their  sittings.  In  short,  the  poor  were 
generally  made  to  feel  they  were  not  wanted, 
even  in  the  churches.  The  clergy  courted  the 
wealthy  and  those  holding  high  social  positions, 
and  took  care  not  to  condemn  such  wrong- 
doing as  was  peculiar  to  those  classes. 

The  churches  generally  at  that  time  were 
wedded  to  certain  creeds,  formulated  hundreds 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  43 

of  years  before,  at  a  time  when  they  were  pecu- 
liarly exposed  to  false  theories  and  mistaken 
views.  Many  adhered  to  doctrines  antagonistic 
to  needed  reforms. 

Early  in  the  twentieth  century  many  leading 
clergymen  began  to  urge  upon  their  brother 
ministers  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  churches 
making  restatements  of  their  doctrines.  Pre- 
paratory to  such  restatement,  many  volumes 
were  written  and  published,  in  which  were 
critically  examined  the  distinctive  doctrines  of 
Christianity  with  the  desire  to  get  back  to  them 
as  a  church  foundation.  The  further  this  ex- 
tended, the  more  evident  it  appeared  tliat  true 
Christianity  was  the  panacea  of  all  the  evils 
that  afflicted  governments  and  society,  as  well 
as  individuals. 

During  the  nineteenth  century,  especially  the 
latter  half  of  it,  the  study  of  science  on  Mars 
had  made  wonderful  strides,  and  had  opened 
up  many  valuable  mines  of  thought,  and,  what 
was  of  most  value,  had  developed  better  methods 
of  investigation,  so  that  it  was  far  easier  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  true  aud  the  false.  In- 
vestigators were  lx?coming  more  honest,  and 
approaclied  questions  without  preconceived  no- 
tions and  tlieories  to  maintain,  or,  at  least,  with 
the  ability  to  lay  them  aside,  if  they  had  them, 
and  look  onlv  for  truth. 


44  A    DREAM  OF 

Science  had,  on  Mars,  up  to  near  tlie  close  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  been  confined  exclu- 
sively to  the  material  world  and  to  theories  re- 
lating thereto.  Yet  many  of  these  well-settled 
theories  ran  athwart  well-settled  religious  opin- 
ions. For  instance,  theologians  had  believed 
that  the  planet  and  substantially  all  upon  it 
had  been  created  out  of  nothing  by  a  fiat,  in 
six  literal  days.  But  scientists  demonstrated 
by  the  planet  itself  that  such  was  not  the  case, 
but  that  many  thousand  and  probably  many 
million  years  were  occupied  in  the  work  of 
creation.  Again,  they  had  believed  that  after 
the  planet  was  created  God  made,  by  fiats,  full- 
grown  animals,  as  we  now  see  them,  to  inhabit 
the  waters,  the  air,  and  the  land.  Also  that 
man  was  created,  from  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
in  the  same  way.  Scientists  conceded  that  all 
were  made  from  the  dust  of  the  ground,  but 
not  by  a  fiat  in  their  mature  form.  They  dis- 
covered that,  early  in  the  work  of  creation, 
animal  life  had  been  brought  into  existence  in 
a  very  low  and  imperfect  form, — imperfect  as 
compared  with  animal  life  now,  but  probably 
])erfcetly  adapted  to  the  state  of  creation  then 
existing.  The  air  was  then  thick  with  un- 
absorbed  nebulous  matter  which  could  not  have 
been  breathed  by  animals  of  to-day.  The 
waters  were  in  tlie  same  condition, — thick  and 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  45 

turbid, — so  tlie  early  stages  of  vegetable  and 
animal  life  were  adapted  to  this  condition  of 
things.  Scientists  had  also  discovered  that  God 
had  established  certain  laws  of  selection  and 
survival,  under  the  regular  operation  of  Mhich 
he  had  evolved  what  we  now  see,  even  material 
man. 

There  were  men  on  Mars,  at  the  time  of 
which  w'e  speak,  known  as  materialists,  not 
very  numerous,  but  very  loud  and  demonstra- 
tive. They  denied  spiritual  existence,  because, 
by  making  a  chemical  analysis  of  man,  they 
could  find  no  spirit.  They  denied  the  existence 
of  a  personal  God,  and  held  that  with  man, 
as  with  the  lower  animals,  death  ended  all. 

These  men  were  not  scientists,  but  a  sort  of 
science-scavengers,  akin  to  what,  in  an  army, 
are  known  as  camp-followers,  living  upon  what 
the  soldiers  throw  away.  In  the  same  way,  they 
hung  upon  the  skirts  of  scientists.  Many  of 
them  were  men  of  culture,  of  keen  wit,  bitter 
sarcasm,  and  burning  oratory,  but  never  scien- 
tific, and  rarely  logical.  They  had  much  of 
the  phraseology  and  the  nomenclature  of  mod- 
ern thought,  but  none  of  its  power  or  methods 
of  analysis,  or  its  spirit  of  candor.  However, 
their  brilliancy  gave  them  a  following.  Their 
methods  were  purely  destructive.  They  tore 
down,  but  never  built  up.     They  took  away  a 


46  A    DREAM  OF 

man's  faith,  but  gave  him  nothing  in  return. 
Their  aim  seemed  to  be  the  utter  destruction  of 
the  religious  sense  in  man.  Of  course  they  did 
much  evil,  but,  unintentionally,  they  also  did 
much  good.  In  centuries  of  benighted  igno- 
rance, with  a  corrupt,  sensual  priesthood,  en- 
dowed with  great  power  over  the  minds  and 
bodies  and  property  of  the  laity,  Christianity 
had  become  handicapped  with  false  doctrines 
and  practices,  until  it  seemed  to  be  staggering 
under  a  load  of  falsehood.  These  errors,  like 
ugly  warts  on  the  otherwise  beautiful  face, 
seemed  to  invite  the  ridicule  and  sarcasm  of 
these  enemies  of  all  religion,  and  thus  the  more 
thoughtful  and  earnest  Christian  scholars  and 
ministers  had  their  attention  called  to  these 
errors,  and  began  to  devise  ways  and  means  to 
eradicate  them.  They  soon  discovered  that 
these  errors,  or  false  doctrines,  were  breeding 
much  scepticism  within  the  church.  The  pews 
were  beginning  to  think,  as  well  as  the  pulpits. 
Many  would  quickly  recognize  a  false  doctrine 
when  pointed  out  to  them,  who  had  not  been 
sufficiently  trained  in  logical  analysis  to  enable 
them  to  distinguish  clearly  between  the  true 
and  the  false,  and  so  rejected  all, — threw  away 
their  Christianity  because  error  had  become 
attached  to  it, — in  pulling  up  the  tares,  they 
destroyed  the  wheat  also. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  47 

This  state  of  things  greatly  alarmed  real 
Christians  everywhere,  especially  the  more  in- 
telligent. Those  having  the  requisite  scholar- 
ship commenced  a  vigorous  examination  of 
their  creeds,  determined  to  find  the  errors  if 
they  existed  and  devise  means  for  eradicating 
them. 

When  their  nineteenth  century  went  out  and 
the  twentieth  came  in,  this  movement  was  just 
getting  a  strong  hold  of  the  Christian  mind, 
and  the  publications  and  discussions  which 
emanated  from  the  press  in  the  first  half  of  the 
twentieth  century  Avere  interesting  beyond  my 
power  to  describe.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible 
for  me  to  reproduce  here  any  considerable  por- 
tion of  those  publications ;  so  I  must  content 
myself  by  quoting  a  part  only  of  such  as  are 
said  to  have  been  most  potent  in  bringing  about 
the  present  advanced  state  of  civilization  and 
the  religious  and  social  unity  that  now  prevail 
on  Mars. 

Since  the  adoption  of  a  universal  language 
on  Mars,  all  the  old  books  of  merit,  of  all  the 
languao-es  formerlv  used,  have  been  translated 
into  their  present  tongue  and  are  accessible  to 
all. 


48  A   DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER    IV. 

At  that  period  of  thorough  re-examination 
of  their  platforms  and  creeds,  the  theolo- 
gians and  philosophers  of  Mars  went  back  to 
first  principles  in  their  investigations.  They 
seem  first  to  have  grappled  the  question, 
"  What  is  the  nature  of  man,  and  what  are  his 
wants?" 

It  was  exceedingly  cheering  to  notice  how 
honestly  they  seem  to  have  gone  at  their  work. 
Approaching  from  all  directions  and  from  all 
shades  of  belief  and  disbelief,  they  seem  to 
have  laid  aside  all  preconceptions,  and  to  have 
searched  diligently  for  the  truth,  wdthout  appar- 
ent care  as  to  whether  the  truth  sustained  or 
contradicted  their  former  ideas.  Various  were 
the  early  opinions  expressed  in  these  examina- 
tions, but,  after  several  years  of  earnest  and 
knowledge-seeking  discussion,  and  the  publica- 
tion of  manv  volumes  of  rich  thought,  the  lead- 
ing  minds  both  in  and  out  of  the  church  began 
to  converge,  and  find  common  ground  on  which 
they  could  stand.  They  came  together  in  a 
common  finding,  best  expressed  In  a  somewhat 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  49 

elaborate  work,  published  about  the  middle  of 
the  twentieth  century. 

I  have  before  said  that  their  language  is 
spelled  phonetically,  and  is  much  more  con- 
densed than  ours  :  their  thoughts  require  fewer 
words  for  expression.  One  can  read  their  books 
almost  as  rapidly  as  he  can  think.  This  facili- 
tates holding  the  attention  to  the  subject-matter 
and  makes  the  reading  an  easy  task.  I  made 
copious  extracts  in  short-hand  from  these  pub- 
lications, and  will  translate  portions  of  them 
into  English  as  well  as  I  can.  Their  Scriptures 
differ  from  ours  in  many  respects,  yet  I  cannot 
do  better  than  to  adopt  ours  as  the  translation 
of  corresponding  passages  in  theirs. 

The  author  says  :  "  When  treating  of  the 
conditions  of  man  in  relation  to  immortality, 
I  propose  to  accept  the  Mosaic  account  of  his 
origin  and  fall,  as  the  same  has  been  commonly 
interpreted,  because,  for  all  practical  purposes, 
that  will  serve  my  purpose  as  well  as  any  other ; 
but  in  so  doing  I  do  not  wish  to  commit  my- 
self for  or  against  that  interpretation. 

" '  In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou 
shalt  surely  die.'  Did  this  mean  that  Adam 
should  suffer  natural  death  as  the  penalty  of 
disobedience  ?  Did  it  refer  to  the  death  of  the 
natural  body  ?  Adam  did  eat  of  the  forbidden 
fruit,  but  he  lived  many  years  thereafter.     His 


50  -4    DREAM  OF 

body  was  akin  to  all  around  liini.  It  was  of 
the  earth,  earthy ;  the  very  construction  of  his 
body,  wonderful  though  it  was,  all  prophesied 
of  decay  and  death.  The  very  permission, 
'Of  every  tree  thou  mayest  freely  eat,'  etc., 
was  an  announcement  that  the  bodies  of  Adam 
and  Eve  were  subject  to  the  laws  of  organic 
matter,  of  growth  and  decay,  of  wear  and  tear, 
— in  short,  of  death. 

"  God  said,  *  In  the  day  that  thou  eatest 
thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die.'  The  serpent 
said,  '  Ye  shall  not  surely  die.'  If  the  death 
referred  to  meant  the  death  of  the  body,  the 
serpent  would  seem  to  have  spoken  the  truth, 
for  '  in  the  day'  could  not  have  meant  hundreds 
of  years  thereafter,  for  in  the  natural  course  of 
events  death  would  then  occur  anyhow. 

"Adam  was  endowed  with  a  life  in  addition 
to  that  given  to  the  beasts  of  the  field.  After 
being  made,  as  were  the  other  animals,  "we  are 
told  that  God  *  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul.' 
This  life,  so  distinctively  mentioned  and  thereby 
so  emphasized,  meant  something  more  than 
natural  life,  something  more  than  was  bestowed 
on  the  other  animals. 

"  Modern  science  has  made  great  progress  in 
discovering  the  processes  of  evolution,  demon- 
strating that  much  of  what  exists  is  the  result 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  51 

of  what  is  called  natural  law.  Scientists  gen- 
erally, however,  substantially  confess  that  they 
meet  with  chasms  which  this  natural  law  can- 
not leaj),  and  which  apparently  could  have  been 
bridged  only  by  creative  power.  They  discover 
no  law  of  inorganic  matter  that  could  evolve 
the  organic.  Dead,  earthy  matter  seems  utterly 
incapable,  of  itself,  of  assuming  vitality  or  of 
evolving  it.  It  is  dead,  and  no  law  or  func- 
tion of  dead  matter  has  been  discovered  that 
will  empower  it  to  beget  or  assume  life.  It 
may  be  vitalized,  but  by  nothing  within  itself. 
The  most  that  can  be  said  of  it  in  this  con- 
nection is,  it  is  susceptible  of  vitalization. 

"  The  most  persistent  efforts  have  been  made, 
with  every  conceivable  form  of  analysis  and 
synthesis,  to  discover  in  inorganic  matter  an 
ability  to  evolve  the  organic,  but  without  avail. 
The  chemist  may  decompose  the  apple  or  the 
potato  and  determine,  he  says,  its  elements,  and 
may  carefully  weigh  each  element  and  find  that 
the  sum  of  these  weights  is  equal  to  the  weight 
of  the  whole,  thereby  showing,  to  his  satisfac- 
tion, that  he  has  lost  nothing  ;  yet  he  is  unable 
to  combine  these  self-same  elements  in  their 
original  form.  He  failed  in  his  analysis  to 
save  the  life  with  the  other  elements. 

"  Life  was  a  creation.  The  organic  called 
for  the  fiat  of  Creative   Power.      After  this 


62  A   DREAM  OF 

creation  the  herb  is  able  to  overcome  the  inertia 
of  dead  matter  and  set  its  particles  in  motion, 
and  lifts  them  up  in  opposition  to  gravitation, 
and  causes  them  to  assume  new  forms,  enter 
into  new  relations,  and  jicrform  new  functions. 

"  Another  chasm,  perhaps  not  so  broad,  lay 
between  the  animal  and  vegetable  worlds ;  but 
between  the  animal  and  the  spiritual  lay  an 
abyss  broader  and  deeper  than  that  between  the 
organic  and  the  inorganic, — a  chasm  that  noth- 
ing below  the  spiritual  could  bridge. 

"  As  the  vegetable  life  must  reach  down  into 
the  mineral  world  and  lift  up  its  dead  particles 
and  endow  them  with  new  functions,  and  as 
animal  life  must  reach  down  into  the  vegetable 
kingdom  and  lift  up  its  elements  into  new  and 
higher  forms  and  offices :  so  the  spiritual  life 
must  reach  down  and  seize  upon  the  animal  and 
endow  it  with  new  and  loftier  powers. 

"When  man  became  'a  living  soul,'  the 
chasm  between  the  animal  and  the  spiritual 
world  was  bridged.  Man  walked  the  planet 
as  other  animals  did,  and  in  addition  he  trod 
the  spiritual  world.  He  had  two  lives, — the 
animal  and  the  spiritual.  Through  the  animal 
he  was  akin  to  all  below  him,  and  through  the 
spiritual,  to  all  above  him. 

"  The  loss  of  life  is  death.  Scientists  define 
life  to  be  '  the  continuous  adjustment  of  internal 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  53 

^/ force  to  external  relations.'  This  means,  in 
part,  that  no  finite  thing,  whether  vegetable  or 
animal  or  spiritual,  can  live  within  itself  To 
live, '  it  must  keep  its  internal  organs  and  func- 
tions adjusted  to  the  appropriate  outside  coun- 
terpart of  its  existence,  that  the  one  may  draw 
its  necessary  support  from  the  other.' 

"  Death,  then,  would  be  the  severance  of 
these  relations,  or,  in  other  words,  a  failure 
continuously  to  keep  properly  adjusted  the 
relations  of  the  internal  to  the  external. 

"  By  analogy  w^e  may  reasonably  infer  that 
exactly  the  same  is  true  of  spiritual  life.  When 
man  partook  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  when  he 
sinned,  he  did  nothing  to  disturb  the  continuity 
of  the  internal  to  the  external  bodily  relations ; 
hence  his  bodily  life  was  not  lost.  There  was 
nothing  to  cause  bodily  death,  but  he  did  at 
once,  instantly,  sever  the  adjustment  of  the  in- 
ternal to  the  external  spiritual  relations.  He 
cut  himself  off  from  his  source  of  spiritual 
nourishment,  and,  as  a  natural,  necessary  result, 
he  became  spiritually  dead. 

"  To  sustain  his  natural  life,  man  must  main- 
tain a  continuous  adjustment  of  his  internal 
organs  to  their  external  source  of  supply,  such 
as  the  stomach  to  food,  the  skin  to  proper  tem- 
perature, the  lungs  to  air,  etc.  If  the  continu- 
ous adjustment  of  the  lungs  to  the  air  be  de- 
6* 


64  ^    DREAM  OF 

stroyed,  death  is  the  immediate  result,  or,  in  the 
language  of  modern  science,  '  Man  lives  while 
his  bodily  organs  are  in  correspondence  M'ith 
their  environment,  and  dies  when  that  corre- 
spondence is  broken,' — or,  in  plain,  old-fash- 
ioned language,  he  dies  when  the  support  of 
life  is  cut  off,  whether  from  the  lack  of  the  ex- 
ternal supply,  or  the  inability  of  the  internal 
organs  to  appropriate  such  supply.  If  he  cuts 
off  this  supply  by  his  own  act,  he  is  guilty  of 
suicide. 

"  When  God  said,  '  In  the  day  that  thou 
eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die/  he  did  not 
thereby  proclaim  an  arbitrary  penalty  for  sin, 
in  the  sense  in  which  penalties  are  inflicted  by 
outside  authority  for  commission  of  crime,  but 
he  simply  informed  Adam  of  the  necessary, 
natural  law  of  cause  and  effect,  and  gave  warn- 
ing that  such  act  would  be  spiritual  suicide. 
When  man  deliberately  disobeyed  God,  his 
spiritual  death  was  just  as  inevitable,  and  just 
as  natural,  as  would  be  the  death  of  the  body 
when  a  man  hangs  himself  and  thereby  shuts 
the  air  from  his  lungs. 

*•'  The  continuity  of  the  internal  to  the  ex- 
ternal relations,  or  the  correspondence  of  the 
internal  organs  to  their  external  environment, 
being  once  broken,  can  be  re-established  only 
by  creative  power.     With  this  view  of   man, 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  55 

how  vivid  and  full  of  meaning  are  the  words 
of  Christ  in  his  illustrative  figure,  '  I  am  the 
vine,  and  ye  are  the  branches  ;  if  a  man  abide 
not  in  me,  he  is  cast  forth  as  a  branch  and  is 
withered  (dies),  and  men  gather  them  and  cast 
them  into  the  fire  and  they  are  burned.' 

"  If  the  spiritual  life  is  the  only  source  and 
promise  of  immortality,  then,  if  man  died 
spiritually,  why  did  he  not  become  as  he  would 
have  been  if  God  had  not  '  breathed  into  his 
nostrils  the  breath  of  life'  ?  Such  death  must 
have  reduced  him  to  a  mere  intellectual  animal, 
— spiritually  extinct, — leaving  no  call  or  use 
for  an  eternal  hell,  no  necessity  for  an  infinite 
sacrifice,  no  place  in  the  universe  for  an  orthodox 
atonement  or  an  orthodox  trinity.  There  would 
seem  to  be  no  more  necessity  that  the  Son  of 
God  should  submit  to  become  the  victim  of  the 
heathenish  idea  of  a  blood-sacrifice  for  man 
than  for  the  ox  or  the  ass  or  the  monkey. 

"  Man,  as  a  mere  intellectual  animal,  is  capa- 
ble of  wonderfid  culture  and  development,  and 
also  of  a  high  degree  of  morality.  As  a  mere  in- 
tellectual animal  he  may  seek  his  own  interests 
in  the  interests  of  others.  He  may  conclude 
that  to  be  strictly  just  and  honest  and  honorable 
in  his  intercourse  with  others  will  best  conduce 
to  his  own  interests.  He  may,  for  the  same 
reason,  adopt  the  Golden  Rule  as  the  rule  of 


56  A    DREAM  OF 

his  life,  and  yet  have  no  spirituality  and  no 
part  or  lot  in  the  future  state.  This  alone  is 
not  s])iritual  life,  and  is  no  certain  evidence  of 
such  life.  Mere  animal  selfishness  may  lead  an 
intelligent  man  to  do  justice  and  equity. 

"  The  mere  universal  dream  of  immortality, 
the  mere  universal  desire  for  it,  the  lougiug 
hope  for  it,  are  no  proofs  that  the  one  who 
dreams  and  desires  and  hopes  is  immortal.  So 
far  as  this  state  of  mind  indicates  anything,  it 
tends  in  the  direction  of  proof  that  there  is 
something  above  and  beyond  our  present  state, 
a  spiritual  kingdom,  a  source  of  spiritual  life 
and  light,  and,  perhaps,  of  the  possibility  of 
man  becoming  fitted  to  be  a  recipient  of  that 
light  and  life. 

"  The  worshipping  instinct  that  has  seemed 
to  pervade  all  tribes  and  nations  in  all  ages  of 
the  world  is  of  the  same  character, — a  sort  of 
half-recognized  prophecy  of  man's  adaptation 
to  become  more  than  an  animal :  it  is  a  God- 
implanted  yearning,  designed  to  make  man 
search  for  the  source  of  the  spiritual,  and,  if 
possible,  to  find  the  strait  and  narrow  way, 
— the  single  door  through  which  he  may  enter 
its  portals  and  become  its  recipient. 

"  We  may  safely  go  a  little  further,  and  infer 
that,  in  his  natural  state,  man  may  have  an  in- 
born spiritual  ovule  or  seed,  which,  if  impreg- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  57 

nated, — fructified  by  the  spirit  of  God, — may 
become  a  '  living  soul/ — '  a  second  birth.'  "With 
this  view,  the  '  second  birth'  ceases  to  be  a  figure 
of  speech,  and  becomes  a  literal  fact,  a  real  birth, 
the  beg-etting  of  a  new  existence.  If  this  ovule 
is  neglected,  if  God  is  shut  away  from  it,  it 
ultimately  dries  up,  dies,  and  becomes  as  if  it 
had  never  been.  If  the  germ  dies,  there  is 
nothing  to  develop  into  a  living  soul, — no 
second  birth  can  take  place, — '  the  day  of  grace 
is  sinned  away.'  For  this  idea  we  liave  no 
direct  '  thus  saith  the  Lord,'  yet  it  makes  many 
dark  places  luminous.  The  '  unpardonable  sin' 
is  then  explained  on  a  rational  basis.  When 
a  man  is  once  '  born  again,' — this  ovule  once 
vitalized, — and  afterwards  dies  spiritually,  there 
can  be  no  further  hope ;  for,  having  but  one 
spiritual  germ,  and  that  being  lost,  all  hope 
dies  with  it.  So  if  a  man,  once  spiritualized, 
deliberately  sins  so  as  to  sever  his  spiritual  re- 
lations with  the  sustaining  spirit  of  the  Father, 
he  has  committed  spiritual  suicide. 

"  The  Old  Testatment  Scriptures  are  not  veiy 
clear  in  their  direct  teachings  of  immortality, 
but  they  clearly  teach  the  mortality  of  the 
finally  impenitent.  The  New  Testament,  how- 
ever, is  full  and  rich  in  its  teachings  on  both 
these   points.      A   hereafter  is   distinctly  and 


58  A   DREAM  OF 

positively  annouucecl  over  and  over  again ; 
also,  the  doctrine  that  man,  on  specified  condi- 
tions, may  continue  to  live  in  that  hereafter ; 
yet  a  most  careful  and  critical  examination 
will  find  little,  if  anything,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  sustain  the  doctrine  that  natural  man 
is  immortal.  There  are  a  few  passages  which, 
taken  from  the  contexts,  and  unexplained, 
might  seem  to  indicate  a  continued  existence 
of  the  wicked  beyond  the  grave. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  science,  reason,  the  gen- 
eral tone  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  what  we 
know  of  God  as  revealed  to  us  in  the  Bible, 
in  nature,  in  his  providence,  and  in  the  person 
of  Jesus  Christ,  accord  far  better  with  the  doc- 
trine that  man,  in  his  natural  state,  is  mortal, 
and  devoid  of  that  kind  of  life  which  is  lighted 
not  to  be  extinguished. 

"  The  Scriptures  speak  of  natural  man  as 
'dead'  in  his  relation  to  the  spiritual  kingdom. 
'  To  be  carnally  minded  is  death,'  *  She  that 
liveth  in  pleasure  is  dead  while  she  liveth,'  '  To 
you  hath  he  given  life,  which  were  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins,'  'He  that  hath  not  the  Son 
hath  not  life,'  or  is  dead.  '  Good  Master,  what 
shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?' — recognizing 
the  fact  that  he  is  without  such  life.  '  They 
have  eyes,  but  they  see  not,  ears  have  they,  but 
they  hear  not.'     They  have  no  spiritual  eyes  or 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  59 

ears,  because  they  are  spiritually  dead.  '  The 
natural  man  rcceiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness  to  hira, 
neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are 
spiritually  discerned.'  This  extract  is  full  of 
meaning.  It  not  only  announces  a  fact,  but 
gives  a  philosophical,  scientific  reason  for  the 
fact.  One  would  as  soon  expect  a  dumb  brute 
to  comprehend  a  proposition  in  geometry  as  for 
natural  man  to  comprehend  what  can  only  be 
spiritually  discerned.  He  is  devoid  of  the 
organ  that  corresponds  to  the  external  spiritual 
relation.  He  has  no  spiritual  organ  in  corre- 
spondence with  a  spiritual  environment.  To 
promulgate  spiritual  truths  to  such  a  person  is 
simply  casting  pearls  before  swine.  '  Every 
tree  that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn 
down  and  cast  into  the  fire.'  Fire  is  the  most 
destructive  agent  in  nature.  It  reduces  to  its 
ultimate  elements  what  it  acts  upon.  The  de- 
struction by  fire  is  a  final  destruction  ;  hence  it 
is  so  often  referred  to  as  the  figurative  agent  in 
the  destruction  of  the  wicked, — an  utter  de- 
struction. 'Sin  reigned  unto  death,'  'Death 
reigned  from  Adam  unto  IMoses,  even  over 
them  that  had  not  sinned  after  the  similitude 
of  Adam's  transgression,'  'The  wages  of  sin 
is  death,'  '  The  motions  of  sin  did  work  in  our 
members  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto  death/  '  Sin 


go  ^   DREAM  OF 

revived  and  I  died/  '  Sin  slew  me/  '  Sin,  when 
finished,  bringeth  forth  death,'  '  There  is  a  sin 
unto  death.'  Many  other  quotations  from  the 
New  Testament  might  be  cited  to  the  same 
efiFect. 

"The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  the  same 
teaching.     '  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die,' 

*  The  wicked  are  overwhelmed,  and  they  are 
not/  '  The  name  of  the  wicked  shall  rot,'  '  Thou 
hast  destroyed  the  wicked,  thou  hast  put  out 
their  name  forever,' '  Yet  a  little  while,  and  the 
wicked  shall  not  be.' 

"It  is  not  necessary  to  extend  these  quota- 
tions further.  Whoever  will  critically  read  the 
Bible  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  searching 
this  doctrine,  will  wonder  how  he  ever  believed 
that  the  wicked  have  an  eternal  existence. 

"  It  is  unaccountable,  that  the  prevailing  doc- 
trine in  the  church  should  so  long  have  been 
that  '  death,'  in  all  these  quotations,  does  not 
mean  death  at  all,  but  a  miserable,  suffering 
immortality.  Destmction,  we  have  believed, 
did  not  mean  being  destroyed,  but  that  ever- 
lasting death  meant  everlasting  miserable  life. 

*  Where  the  fire  is  not  quenched'  we  have  be- 
lieved meant  an  everlasting  roasting  of  con- 
scious beings. 

"  It  is  much  more  rational  to  be  more  literal 
in  translations.    '  Everlastinsr  destruction'  means 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  Ql 

a  destruction  that  has  no  end,  an  everlasting 
separating  of  the  elements,  with  no  chance  of 
recomposition,  no  resurrection.  '  The  fire  is 
not  quenched'  in  the  sense  that  it  forever  keeps 
the  destruction  complete.  'Where  the  worm 
dieth  not'  has  exactly  the  same  meaning.  After 
devouring  the  wicked,  the  worm  never  dies,  but 
stands  vigil  forever,  to  see  that  there  shall  be 
no  resuscitation,  no  resurrection." 


62  ^   DREAM  OF 


CHAPTEE    V. 

The  author  from  whom  I  heave  quoted  so 
largely,  and  will  continue  to  quote,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  church  which  corresponds  to  what 
are  here  called  the  orthodox  churches,  and,  it 
seems,  was  a  regular  church  attendant.  He 
evidently  was  a  devout  Christian  man,  and  by 
persistent  and  honest  investigation  seems  to 
have  worked  himself  to  near  the  lead  of  the 
reform  thought  of  his  age.  His  writings,  evi- 
dently, had  a  profound  influence  in  producing 
the  enviable  state  of  society  now  existing  in 
Mars. 

After  making  further  quotations  from  both 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  support  of 
the  doctrine  that  death  ends  all  with  the  unre- 
pentant wicked,  he  proceeds  :  "  The  acceptance 
of  the  doctrine  that  there  is  no  hereafter  for  the 
finally  impenitent  and  wicked — no  hereafter  for 
any  except  the  subjects  of  the  *  new  birth,' — 
those  who  are  begotten  of  the  Father  unto  a 
new  life — was,  with  me,  the  key  that  unlocked 
the  kingdom.  It  is  the  broom  that  has  swept 
from  the  theological  heavens  the  cobwebs  and 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  63 

foffs  and  mysteries  which  were  the  debris  of 
centuries  of  a  Christless  priesthood  and  enthu- 
siastic superstition.  It  brought  broad,  open 
davlight  where  before  was  darkness  with  only  an 
occasional  glimmer  or  flash  of  light,  just  enough 
to  conyince  inquirers  that  there  was  light  some- 
where, and  to  encourage  them  to  persevere  and 
search  for  it. 

"  This  doctrine  alone  relieves  Christianity  of 
very  much  of  that  which  is  odious  and  unchris- 
tian. It  relieves  God  of  the  blasphemous 
charges  which  his  own  professed  ministers  have 
heaped  upon  him.  There  can  be  no  eternal 
hell  of  torments,  no  sacrifice  of  the  Son  to 
appease  the  oifended  wrath  of  the  Father.  It 
at  once  makes  the  Father  as  lovable  as  the  Son, 
— infinitely  lovable.  It  takes  away  many  of 
the  stumblincj-blocks  which  have  needlessly  and 
wickedly  been  thrown  in  the  pathway  of  the 
earnest  seeker  after  the  truth  both  in  and  out 
of  the  church  ;  it  has  removed  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal sources  of  infidelity. 

"  Punishment,  with  a  view  to  reform,  is  con- 
sistent with  goodness.  Retributive  punishment 
may  be  just,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  deserved  or 
merited,  but  can  hardly  be  denominated  good. 
Eternal  punishment  must  be  simply  vindictive, 
and  cannot  be  reconciled  with  infinite  goodness. 
'  An  eye  for  an  eye,'  '  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,'  '  a 


64  A   DREAM  OF 

blow  for  a  blow/  were  condemned  by  Christ ; 
yet  the  church  idea  of  hell  ascribes  to  God 
himself  the  disposition  to  return  incomputable 
billions  of  blows  for  one.  Thousands  upon 
thousands  are  driven  to  the  denial  of  Chris- 
tianity, simply  because  thoy  have  been  led  to 
believe  that  this  hellish  doctrine  is  a  necessary 
element  of  Christian  faith.  The  attempt  of 
some  to  obviate  the  hardness  of  this  doctrine 
by  making  the  Atonement  save  all,  without 
regard  to  character,  is  repulsive,  for  the  reason 
that  it  offers  no  reward  for  virtue,  but  destroys 
the  very  foundation  of  religion,  by  putting  the 
highest  virtue  on  the  same  footing  with  the 
lowest  vice.  The  theological  twaddle  about  a 
new  trial  in  the  next  world  is  too  insipid  to 
entitle  it  to  thoughtful  consideration,  as  it  has 
neither  common  sense  nor  Scripture  behind  it. 

"  Some  may  say  that  the  doctrine  that  death 
ends  all  with  the  wicked  is  annihilation,  and 
that  anniliilation  is  more  cruel  than  an  eternal 
hell  of  torments.  Not  so.  There  is  no  cruelty 
in  annihilation.  It  causes  no  suffering  except 
in  anticipation,  and  this  anticipation  is  a  mercy 
if  it  leads  to  an  earnest  search  for  the  new  life. 
It  is  no  more  annihilation  than  is  suffered  by 
all  other  animals.  Death  is  often  a  mercy  to 
relieve  from  pain,  and  trouble,  and  decrepitude. 
The  choice  of  life  is  open  to  all,  and,  if  final 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  65 

and  absolute  death  is  a  terror,  it  should  induce 
the  choice  of  life.  '  The  survival  of  the  fittest' 
seems  to  be  God's  law  in  creation,  and  is  appli- 
cable in  distinguishing  between  those  who  have 
been  born  of  the  spirit  and  those  who  have 
not. 

"Seekers  after  truth  have  heretofore  been 
told  that,  to  be  intelligent  Christians,  they  must 
believe, — 

"  1st.  That  God  the  Father  is  omnipotent 
and  omnipresent, — sees  all  things,  knows  all 
things,  and  is  the  source  of  all  power. 

"  2d.  That  God  the  Father  will  forgive  no 
one,  however  penitent,  until  the  penalty  of  his 
sins  has  been  fully  suflercd. 

"  3d.  That  God  the  Father  will  accept  the 
suffering  of  such  penalty  at  the  hands  of  one 
who  never  sinned. 

"  4th.  That  God  the  Father  will  punish  with 
the  pains  of  eternal  torments  every  man  and 
woman  (and  why  not  child?)  who  does  not 
voluntarily  accept  this  innocent  sufferer  as 
having  suffered  for  him  or  her,  vicariously. 

"  Any  who  will  intelligently  study  these  last 
three  propositions,  and  get  their  real  meaning, 
will  agree  in  defying  any  man,  however  learned 
he  may  be,  to  define  the  orthodox  'devil'  in 
terms  more  odious  and  fiendish  than  these  propo- 
sitions make  God  the  Father.  Their  bare  state- 
e  6* 


QQ  A    DREAM  OF 

ment  were  almost  blasphemy ;  yet  they  have 
long  been  taught  from  the  Christian  pulpit. 
Strange  it  is  that  there  are  not  a  thousand 
scoffino;  infidels  where  there  is  one.  But  we 
are  told  that  the  Godhead  is  an  impenetrable 
mystery  in  our  present  state,  that  the  relations 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son  to  mankind  are  suffi- 
ciently revealed  for  the  purposes  of  salvation, 
and  that  we  have  no  right  to  ask  more.  This 
might  be  satisfactory  if  the  church  had  not  por- 
trayed God  the  Father  as  a  being  so  unlike  a 
father, — so  cold  and  merciless,  and  so  merci- 
lessly exacting, — and  then  bid  poor  human 
nature  to  call  him  Father,  and  to  make  him 
the  object  of  love  and  worship, — a  Father  who 
forgives  nothing,  but  demands  in  kind  the  utter- 
most farthing  of  indebtedness. 

"  How  different  is  the  Father  revealed  to  us 
by  Jesus  Christ !  Christ  taught  us  to  pray 
directly  to  the  Father :  not  through  Christ  as  our 
intercessor  or  solicitor,  not  through  the  merits 
of  his  sinless  character,  set  to  our  credit,  not 
because  of  his  vicarious  suiferings  for  us,  not 
because  he  had  paid  our  debt  in  full ;  but  be- 
cause God  was  our  Father  we  were  taught  .to 
go  directly  to  him,  pleading  only  our  own  char- 
acter and  penitence  for  transgressions, — '  Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven/  '  forgive  us  our 
trespasses    as    we    forgive   those    who   trespass 


A  modijST  prophet.  67 

against  us.''  Christ  taught  us  to  love  our  enemies, 
to  bless  them  that  curse  us,  to  do  good  to  them 
that  hate  us,  to  pray  for  them  that  despitefully 
use  us  and  persecute  us.  Why  ?  '  So  that  ye 
may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven ;  for  he  raaketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the 
evil  and  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  upon  the 
just  and  the  unjust.  Be  ye  therefore  merciful, 
as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  merciful.'  How 
wonderfully  near  to  us  Christ  brings  the  Father ! 
How  like  a  real  father  he  makes  him  !  But 
the  Father  of  the  orthodox  creed — how  cold, 
and  distant,  and  merciless,  and  exacting  !  He 
demands  the  pound  of  flesh  from  nearest  the 
vitals  of  Christ, — an  infinite  Shylock  ;  he  denies 
the  direct  access  of  man  to  him.  In  his  best 
estate,  in  his  most  penitent  and  contrite  mood, 
when  actuated  by  his  noblest  and  purest  and 
most  loyal  impulses  and  purposes,  man  is  alto- 
gether corrupt  and  unfit  to  say  '  Our  Father ;' 
but  must  plead  not  his  own  penitence,  not  his 
own  pure  motives,  not  his  own  unselfish  loyalty, 
but  the  merits  of  Christ  set  to  his  credit,  and 
begs  to  be  saved  from  the  torments  of  hell,  not 
because  he  is  fit  or  can  be  fitted  for  heaven,  not 
because  the  Father  can  forgive,  but  because 
Christ  went  to  hell  in  his  place,  and  suffered 
the  whole  penalty,  paid  the  whole  debt !  Oh, 
what  a  God  !     Oh,  what  a  worship  !     "Whence 


68  A    DREAM  OF 

came  this  God  ?  Certainly  not  from  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ.  Not  a  vestige  of  such  a  God 
can  be  found  in  his  gospels.  Whence  this  wor- 
ship? Not  in  the  example,  not  in  the  teachings 
of  Christ :  both  are  directly  the  reverse. 

"  Profane  history  gives  the  '  whence'  of  both. 
This  God  and  this  worship  had  their  origin  in 
two  sources  :  first,  the  desire  of  power  by  those 
who  professed  to  be  the  vicegerents  of  Christ 
on  the  planet ;  and,  second,  the  desire  to  prom- 
ise final  salvation  without  demanding  purity  of 
life.  In  this  worship  personal  character  counts 
for  nothing.  'Before  God  all  alike  are  im- 
pure :'  so  of  what  use  ifi  purity,  if  impurity 
will  furnish  more  pleasure  ?  For  all  alike 
must  at  last  rely  upon  the  merits  of  Christ. 
Under  this  religion  the  old  church  may  sell 
indulgences  for  a  consideration,  and  the  new 
church  may  take  indulgencas  without  paying 
for  them. 

"Is  it  strange  that  under  such  teachings 
there  is  so  little  that  is  distinctive  in  Christian 
character, — that  in  practical  life  there  is  so  little 
difference  between  the  Christian  and  the  infidel  ? 
Is  it  strange  that  you  must  go  to  the  church 
register  to  distinguish  between  saints  and  sin- 
ners ?  Christians  may  practise  some  forms  and 
ceremonies  that  the  worldings  do  not.  They 
may  go  up  to  the  Temple  every  seventh  day, 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  69 

and  go  through  some  heartless  ceremonies,  and 
listen  to  the  learned  essays,  in  which  the  author 
tries  to  appear  as  learned  as  possible  and  yet 
say  as  little  as  possible  ;  but  in  the  real  life — 
in  the  state  of  the  heart,  from  which  are  the 
'  issues  of  life'  for  the  whole  seven  days  of  the 
week,  and  for  twenty-four  hours  of  each  day 
— this  doctrine  of  substitution,  this  putting  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  for  our  unrighteousness, 
furnishes  nothing  but  excuses  and  apologies  for 
every  pet  sin  of  our  natures. 

"  The  doctrine  of  imputed  merit,  substituted 
righteousne&s,  is  the  bane  of  current  Christian- 
ity, and  does  a  thousand  times  more  to  drag 
down  Christ  and  his  holy  religion  than  does  all 
the  infidelity  in  the  world.  It  makes  right- 
eousness not  a  thing  of  the  heart  or  of  the  life, 
but  something  to  be  put  on  like  a  garment,  a 
covering,  but  not  in  any  sense  a  part  of  the 
real  self  or  character. 

"  The  poor  publican's  prayer,  which  Christ 
approved  and  commended,  "God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner,'  is  a  full,  complete,  logical,  an- 
nihilating answer  to  this  church  idea  of  the 
Father,  of  the  vicarious  atonement,  and  of 
imputed  or  substituted  merit.  In  this  simple 
but  forcible  prayer  Christ  taught  two  great  les- 
sons, both  lying  at  the  very  foundation  of 
human  salvation  :  the  one,  that  God  is  a  merci- 


70  A    DREAM  OF 

ful  being,  with  an  ear  quickly  responsive  to 
penitence ;  and  the  other,  that  the  penitent 
man  may  go  directly  to  God,  with  no  mediator, 
no  attorney  or  solicitor  to  plead  his  cause,  no 
intervening  priest  or  potentate,  but  directly, 
pleading  only  his  own  penitence.  The  ortho- 
dox church  doctrine  practically  amounts  to 
taking  the  position  and  teaching  that  Christ 
came,  liv'ed,  suffered,  and  died  that  man  might 
safely  live  in  selfishness,  indulgences,  and  sin. 
In  the  old  church  (Romish)  which  embraces  a 
large  proportion  of  the  professing  Christians 
of  the  world,  Christianity  consists  mostly  in 
loyalty  to  the  church  and  its  functionaries, 
and  has  little  to  do  with  purity  of  life  and  char- 
acter. The  new  church  (Protestant)  of  the 
orthodox  faith  might  take  the  same  view,  and 
still  be  entirely  consistent  with  its  ideas  of  God 
and  the  functions  of  Christ. 
•  "It  is  not  meant  to  assert,  or  suggest,  that 
real,  genuine  Christians  are  not  found  in  the 
church.  There  are  very  many  who  read  and 
imbibe  the  real  spirit  of  the  teachings  of  Christ, 
without  thinking  or  caring  for  the  doctrines  of 
the  doctors.  They  are  genuine  Christians,  in 
spite  of  the  creeds.  Comj^laint  is  made  only 
of  the  absurd  doctrines  with  which  Christian- 
ity is  unfairly  and  wickedly  handicapped,  and 
of  the  natural  effect  of  these  doctrines  upon 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  71 

thoughtful  minds, — of  their  influence  to  impede 
the  progress  of  true  Christianity  in  an  age  like 
this,  when  everything  must  submit  to  the  cru- 
cial test  of  logic  and  science. 

"  Of  course  science  cannot  develop  and  pro- 
mulgate a  saving  religion,  yet  it  is  equally  true 
that  religious  truth  will  not  and  cannot  deny 
the  truths  of  science.  What  is  real  science  is 
real  truth.  What  is  not  real  truth  is  unscien- 
tific. Science  is  just  as  properly  exercised  in 
its  legitimate  field  when  used  to  test  the  ac- 
curacy of  alleged  facts  in  theology  as  in  chem- 
istry or  geology.  In  its  present  state  science 
can  do  but  little  in  the  realm  of  faith  or  in  the 
field  of  religious  experience.  If  the  things  of 
the  spirit  can  be  only  spiritually  discerned,  then 
many  scientists  are  shut  out  from  this  field  of 
observation.  But  when  we  talk  of  the  Trinity, 
of  God  the  Father  practising  a  ruse  before  the 
universe,  in  putting  on  a  show  of  being  so 
mercilessly  exacting  of  his  creatures,  yet  him- 
self furnishing  a  blood-sacrifice  to  himself  that 
may  atone  for  all  the  wrong  outside  of  himself, 
we  are  using  a  jargon  of  words  and  ideas  which, 
if  they  mean  anything,  are  in  violation  of  all 
correct  thought  and  thinking.  When  we  talk 
of  substituting  the  penal  sufferings  of  the  inno- 
cent for  those  deserved  by  the  guilty,  we  again 
state  an   impossibility, — a   proposition   antag- 


72  A   DREAM  OF 

onistic  to  all  forms  of  logic,  common  sense,  and 
justice. 

"  Logically,  sucli  a  sacrifice  and  such  a  sub- 
stitution could  be  possible  only  on  the  hypoth- 
esis that  a  devil,  equal  or  superior  to  God  in 
power,  has  the  right  by  conquest  of  the  posses- 
sion of  the  human  race,  and  that  his  occupation 
is  to  torment  eternally  his  possessions.  Now, 
God,  being  good,  filled  with  love  and  mercy, 
enters  into  negotiations  with  the  devil,  result- 
ing finally  in  a  stipulation  to  turn  over  the  Son 
of  God  into  the  bauds  of  the  devil  for  three 
days,  as  a  ransom  for  all  such  as  wish  to  escape 
the  devil's  dominion.  Now,  if  there  be  such  a 
division  of  the  universe,  and  if  God  the  Father 
is  God  of  but  one  corner  of  it,  then  the  stand- 
ard church  doctrine  relating  to  the  Father  and 
the  Son  may  have  a  show  of  harmony  with 
logic  and  reason.  On  any  other  possible  hy- 
pothesis these  doctrines  are  contradictory  in 
themselves,  they  fly  into  the  face  and  eyes  of 
all  logic  and  reason,  and  are  repulsive  to  our 
sense  of  justice  and  to  all  the  better  feelings  of 
our  natures. 

"Science  may  not  yet  be  able  to  explain  all 
that  is  true  in  Christianity,  but  nothing  that 
is  true  in  Christianity  will  contradict  science. 
The  world  of  science  and  the  world  of  religion 
are  the  same  world  with  God,  and  what  is  true 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  73 

in  one  cannot  be  false  in  the  other.  In  matters 
of  the  spirit  science  can  affirm  nothing.  It  can 
only  deny,  and  its  denial  amounts  to  but  little, 
for  it  cannot  prove  its  negations.  It  can  only 
say  that  science  fails  to  find  spirit,  and  there- 
fore denies  spirituality.  But  such  denial  is 
illogical.  Science  has  really  no  more  logical 
basis  from  which  to  deny  than  it  has  to  affirm. 
All  that  it  can  do  logically  is  to  say,  '  I  do  not 
know.'  Yet  science  has  established  methods  of 
thought  and  investigation  which  are  very  useful 
in  our  studies  of  spiritual  matters,  especially  in 
studying  doctrmes  and  creeds.  The  processes 
of  logic  are  the  same  everywhere,  whether  in 
the  spiritual  or  the  material  world.  So,  when 
the  doctor  of  divinity  begins  to  reason,  he  is 
bound  by  the  same  laws  of  logic  as  the  pro- 
fessor of  physics,  and  is  open  to  the  same  criti- 
cisms when  he  reaches  absurd  conclusions. 

"  It  is  not  meant  to  affirm  that  natural  man 
cannot  recognize  a  God.  Even  science  seeks 
and  worships  a  first  cause.  This  is  the  God  of 
science.  The  scientist  may  call  it  law,  or  ruling 
principle,  or  first  cause,  or  whatever  name  his 
fancy  may  give  it ;  but  still  it  is  his  God,  and 
may  receive  his  homage, — a  God  recognized 
by  the  intellect  as  a  rule  of  action.  But  what 
a  God  !  ^Yhat  a  worship  !  This  God  is  deaf 
and  blind  and  frigid,  and  the  worship  is  mere 


74  A   DREAM  OF 

soulless,  intellectual  awe  and  wonder  and  ad- 
miration. 

"But  more  than  this,  in  natural  man  there 
may  be  a  recognition  of  an  intelligent,  personal 
Ruler  of  the  universe,  and  a  more  or  less  con- 
scious feeling  of  responsibility  to  that  Ruler ; 
and  the  sense  of  fear  may  force  him  into  the 
forms  of  worship  and  many  religious  observ- 
ances. He  may  obtain  an  intellectual  percep- 
tion of  immortality,  and  entertain  a  hope  that 
in  some  way  he  may  attain  it.  The  Jewish 
worship  was  and  is  largely  of  this  kind,  and 
much  of  modern  Christianity  must  be  classed 
under  the  same  head, — a  kind  of  intellectual 
religion  which  fails  to  embrace  the  heart  and 
character,  and  yet  practises  the  forms  of  relig- 
ion. Then,  again,  there  is  much  religion  that 
is  neither  of  the  head  nor  of  the  heart,  but  a 
mere  form  of  worship,  practised  by  parents  and 
continued  by  children,  with  no  special  thought 
or  feeling.  In  many  ways  we  may  recognize 
the  existence  of  a  God,  and  a  Christ,  and  of 
personal  responsibility,  without  the  remotest 
taste  or  touch  of  spirituality. 

"  There  is  a  way  provided  for  the  particles 
of  dead  matter  to  be  infused  with  life,  by  being 
taken  up  into  the  vegetable  world  ;  but  it  is  a 
narrow  way,  and  comparatively  few  particles 
find  it.     So  there  is  a  way  for  man  to  become 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  75 

infused  with  spiritual  life  by  being  taken  up 
into  the  spiritual  world  ;  but  '  strait'  is  the  gate 
and  narrow  the  'way/  and  few  there  be  that 
find  it,  while  '  wide  is  the  gate  and  broad  is  the 
way  that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many  there 
be  that  go  in  thereat.'  The  parallel  between 
dead  matter  and  natural  man,  however,  runs 
but  a  short  distance.  The  life  must  come  from 
the  kingdom  immediately  above  in  both  cases. 
Dead,  inorganic  matter  has  no  faculty  to  hear 
the  invitation  to  come  up  higher,  and  no  free- 
dom of  choice  whether  it  will  accept  such  invi- 
tation ;  but  natural  man  has  both, 

"  God  in  his  wisdom  has  made  man  free,  in 
the  sense  that  man  is  conscious  of  a  power  best 
expressed  in  '  I  will'  and  '  I  will  not ;'  and  he 
has  placed  before  all  men,  everywhere,  life  and 
death,  and  left  them  free  to  choose  one  or  the 
other.  Even  natural  man  has  a  'law  unto  him- 
self,' in  the  light  of  which  he  can  distinguish 
between  good  and  bad,  between  purity  and  im- 
purity, between  selfishness  and  unselfishness ; 
and,  if  he  makes  the  best  use  of  even  that  dim 
light,  and  feels  contrition  when  conscious  of 
liaving  done  wrong,  that  contrition  is  accepted 
as  the  equivalent  of  '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner,'  oven  if  he  has  never  heard  of  the  true 
God  nor  of  the  Christ.  ^yhen  he  has  thus 
placed  himself  in  line  with  GoJ,  the  spirit  of 


76  A   DREAM  OF 

God  will  breathe  into  him  the  breath  of  spirit- 
ual life,  and  he  will  become  a  living  soul.  In 
no  other  way  can  the  beautiful  characters  which 
are  sometimes  developed  among  the  most  be- 
nighted heathen  be  accounted  for.  Paul  recog- 
nized this  when  speaking  of  those  '  without  the 
law.' 

"Leading  scientists  everywhere,  after  the 
most  exhaustive  search,  are  substantially  agreed 
that  there  is  not  an  iota  of  trustworthy  proof 
that  life  has  ever,  anywhere,  appeared  inde- 
pendently of  antecedent  life.  No  life,  then,  is 
spontaneous ;  and  we  may  go  further,  and  say 
that  no  life  can  beget  other  life  than  that  of  its 
own  kind.  Natural  man  has  only  his  natural 
life.  So  natui-al  man  cannot  beget  spiritual 
life  of  himself.  '  That  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the 
spirit  is  spirit.' 

"  Christ  clearly  taught  that  spiritual  life  came 
with  the  new  birth  :  '  Except  a  man  be  born 
affam  he  cannot  see  the  kiuwlom  of  God.'  Ex- 
actly  what  this  '  new  birth'  is,  or  what  the  con- 
stitutional or  structural  change  or  formation 
may  be,  is  of  course  all  speculation.  The  theory 
already  advanced  seems  most  rational,  most  in 
accord  with  known  laws  of  evolution, — viz.,  that 
man  has,  as  a  part  of  his  natural  manhood,  a 
seed  or  spiritual  ovule  or  a  germinal  principle 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  77 

which,  when  impregnated  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
springs  forth  into  spiritual  life,  a  spiritual 
being, — a  literal  begetting,  a  literal  regenera- 
tion, a  literal  birth,  a  new  being  comes  into  ex- 
istence. This,  of  course,  is  only  speculation, 
and  as  such  it  is  offered.  It  is  pleasing  to  find 
a  natural  law  which  protrudes,  if  only  a  little 
way,  into  the  spiritual  world. 

"One  thing  is  certain,  this  'new  life'  is  of 
the  spirit,  spiritual.  It  is  a  restoration  to  the 
recipient  of  what  Adam  lost  when  he  fell.  It 
is  the  restoration  of  the  dual  life.  It  brings 
the  impress  of  God's  image,  for  this  new 
being  is  God's  child,  it  is  an  immaculate  con- 
ception, and  has  a  right,  in  addressing  God,  to 
say  'Our  Father.'  It  has  the  brand  of  im- 
mortality. '  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  according  to  his 
abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us  ....  to  an 
inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiledand  that 
fadcth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven.' 

"  When  a  man  is  '  born  again,'  he  is  conscious 
of  a  new  power  at  the  helm.  His  aims  and 
purposes  are  changed.  A  new  direction  is  taken. 
A  new  star  has  appeared  in  his  heaven,  towards 
which  he  feels  himself  being  guided.  With 
more  or  less  rapidity,  his  understanding  is  en- 
larged, his  reasoning  powers  brightened  and 
strengthened,  his  eyes  and  ears  are  quickened ; 
7* 


78  A   DREAM  OF 

he  sees  more,  he  hears  more,  he  feels  more,  he 
understands  better,  he  knows  more.  His  new 
life  soon  begins  to  assume  control  of  his  old 
life,  and  the  natural  man  is  gradually  being 
brought  under  the  control  of  the  spiritual  man. 
The  appetites  and  passions,  one  after  another, 
are  bridled  and  held  with  taut  reins ;  the  dis- 
position is  sweetened,  hatred  and  revenge  give 
place  to  love  and  forgiveness,  aud  the  desire 
that  others  shall  experience  the  same  regenera- 
tive influence,  or  new  birth,  takes  possession  of 
the  heart,  q-nd  leads  to  sacrificial  devotion  to  the 
redemption  of  pjankind.  All  this  is  fruit  of 
the  new  birth,  and  the  fruit  brought  forth  is  the 
only  evidence  of  such  birth.  This  fruit  is  what 
should  be  sought  by  examining  elders,  and  not 
questions  of  doctrines,  in  determining  a  candi- 
date's fitness  for  admission  to  the  church.  If 
the  candidate  is  reg-ularlv  bearing  Christian 
fruit,  it  can  como  only  from  a  Christian  heart; 
and,  however  sound  one  may  be  in  doctrine,  if 
fruit  cannot  be  produced  as  evidence,  he  has 
nothing  to  recommend  him.  The  person  who 
has  been  brought  thoroughly  under  the  in- 
fluence of  spiritual  life  is  not  only  upright, 
just,  and  honest,  but  much  more.  The  highest 
standard  of  human  conduct  outside  of  Chris- 
tianity is  the  Golden  Rule,  '  Whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  79 

SO  to  them.'  This  is  judicially  just,  but  it  makes 
self  the  standard.  Natural  man  may,  un- 
doubtedly, live  up  to  this  rule.  The  same  idea 
is  expressed  in  uglier  form  by  '  Honesty  is  the 
best  policy.'  The  standard  for  spiritual  man 
is  the  one  given  by  Christ  to  his  disciples, — 
'  Love  ye  one  another ;  as  I  have  loved  you  so 
love  ye  one  another.'  The  standard  of  this  love 
was  not  self,  but  '  as  I  loved  you.'  He  forgot 
self  for  others.  He  became  poor  that  others 
might  become  rich.  As  the  mountain  permits 
itself  to  become  impoverished  to  enrich  the 
valley  below,  so  Christ  gave  of  comfort  and 
rest,  of  labor  and  self-denial,  of  home  and  kin- 
dred, of  pleasure  and  life  itself,  for  those  below 
and  about  him.  His  love  was  a  sacrificial  love, 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  from  the  grave  to 
the  resurrection,  from  the  resurrection  to  the 
ascension.  It  was  the  love  that  loves  to  '  Do 
good  and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again.'  This 
love  is  distinctively  Christian.  It  was  revealed 
to  the  world  by  Ciirist,  in  his  teachings,  in  his 
life,  in  his  death.  This  love  must  regenerate 
the  world. 

"  Christ  did  not  announce  the  Golden  Rule 
as  his  contribution.  In  citing  it,  he  says, 
*  Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them ; 
for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets,'  and  uoth- 


80  A   DREAM  OF 

iug  more.  It  was  Jewish  justice.  It  was 
manly  dealing,  cold  and  bloodless  rectitude,  but 
did  not  necessai'ily  iuvolv^e  any  heart.  It  did 
not  necessarily  mean  any  more  than  '  Honesty 
is  the  best  policy.'  It  was  legal  justice  ;  simply 
'the  law  and  the  prophets.'  'The  law  Avas 
given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and  truth  came  by 
Jesus  Christ.'  That  broad  foundation  of  love, 
a  love  that  reaches  beyond  self,  and  home,  and 
kindred,  bevond  neig-hbors  and  friends,  even  to 
our  enemies,  to  those  who  hate  and  despitefully 
use  us  and  persecute  us,  is  an  untold  degree 
above  and  beyond  that  upon  which  the  Golden 
Rule  is  based.  Christ's  life  and  teachings  were 
the  first  announcement  to  men  of  such  a  doc- 
trine ;  and  when,  on  the  cross,  he  prayed  for 
his  murderers,  '  Father  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do,'  he  sublimely  com- 
pleted a  rev^elation  never  before  made  to  the 
world, — a  revelation  which,  if  it  could  become 
the  basis  of  society,  would  right  all  wrongs, 
for  it  embraces  everything  that  can  be  efficacious 
and  redemptive  in  lifting  man  from  earth  to 
heaven.  This  love  comes  with  the  '  new  birth,' 
— comes  with  the  spiritual, — is  born  of  the 
spirit.  This  love  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven, — 
the  grain  which,  when  sowed  in  the  heart,  springs 
up  into  a  great  tree, — the  leaven  which,  hid- 
den in  the  heart,  leavens  the  whole  lump,  sends 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  gl 

out  its  revivifying  influence  through  our  whole 
nature,  correcting  all  that  is  wrong,  sweetening 
all  that  is  bitter.  '  He  that  soweth  the  good  seed 
(hideth  the  leaven)  is  the  Son  of  man.'  Christ 
first  promulgated  the  doctrine  of  such  love, — 
redeeming  love,  cleansing  love,  purifying  love, 
love  that  includes  enemies,  universal  love, — a 
love  which,  if  universally  accepted  and  pmc- 
tised,  would  abolish  all  crime  and  wickedness, 
all  poverty,  all  sinful  love  of  money,  and  would 
convert  our  planet  to  a  heaven. 

"  This  is  not  a  love  to  be  possessed  only  by 
Christ,  and  by  him  to  be  spread  over  us  as  a 
protecting  mantle,  or  shield,  to  ward  oiF  the 
wrath  of  God ;  but  a  love  born  in  us,  planted 
in  the  very  core  of  the  heart,  and  thence  grow- 
ing outward  and  upward  and  forcing  the  bad 
out  of  our  natures,  and  rendering  us  fit  for  the 
kingdom.  This  is  Christianit}'.  This  portrays 
the  great  mission  of  Christ ;  and  how  infinitely 
superior,  and  more  dignified  and  Godlike,  than 
the  religion  which  apologizes  for  man's  sins, 
and  substitutes  the  righteousness  of  another  to 
save  him  !  In  God's  army  every  individual 
stands  or  falls  for  himself:  no  substitutes  are 
accepted. 

"  This  religion,  wlien  possessed,  easily  dis- 
tinguishes the  Christian  from  the  worldling, 
without  examininfj  the  church  register.      The 

/ 


82  ^1    DREAM  OF 

religion  of  Christ  is  not  a  rig-hteousness  to  be 
loaned  to  ns,  quantum  sujficit,  to  balance  the  ac- 
count against  us;  but  a  righteousness  the  seeds 
of  which  must  be  planted  in  our  own  hearts, 
to  renovate  our  own  beings,  to  purify  our  own 
lives,  and  thereby  redeem  from  the  thraldom 
of  sin  and  death  our  miserable,  passion-blind 
natures,  and  fit  us  for  the  higher,  grander,  and 
better  lives  here,  and  for  the  inheritance  of  a 
sublime  immortality  hereafter, — in  other  words, 
save  us  not  in  our  sins  but//-om  them. 

"  The  humility  demanded  on  entering  spirit- 
ual life  is  not  the  humility  of  self-abnegating 
servility,  it  is  not  a  surrender  of  judgment  and 
reason  to  the  extent  of  renouncing  either  the 
existence  or  use  of  these  faculties.  God  no- 
Avhere  requires  this.  Christianity  addresses 
itself  to  these  faculties.  The  humility  de- 
manded is  only  to  the  extent  of  making  us 
teachable.  It  only  requires  that  we  take  our 
intellectual  faculties  with  us  to  the  feet  of 
Christ,  our  great  teacher  in  spiritual  things, — 
take  them  there  free  from  prejudgment,  free 
from  pride  of  opinion,  free  from  hostility  to 
the  truth  for  which  we  seek,  free  as  we  would 
take  our  judgment  and  reason  to  an  acknowl- 
edged authority  in  science  Avhon  seeking  in- 
formation concerning  material  things,  thus 
humbling;  ourselves  in  the  sense  of  coufessiucr 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  83 

our  ignorance  and  becoming  receptive, — in  this 
respect  becoming  as  little  children.  All  that 
the  teachings  of  Christ  demand  is  the  correct, 
the  best  use  of  our  faculties, — the  putting  and 
keeping  of  them  in  the  best  possible  condition 
to  comprehend  and  utilize  the  message  he 
brought. 

"  It  is  clearly  the  policy  of  God's  moral  gov- 
ernment to  respect  man's  intellect  and  will  in 
his  dealings  with  man.  On  no  other  theory 
can  we  understand  why  he  permits  man  to  be 
sinful,  corrupt,  and  miserable. 

"  We  are  told  that  God  made  man  in  his  own 
image, — that  is,  gave  him  an  independent  ex- 
istence, so  far  as  concerned  his  power  of  choice, 
— created  him  with  a  power  of  will  of  his  own, 
and  a  power  to  use  that  will  as  suits  him  best. 
He  is  free  to  choose  life  and  the  things  that 
sustain  and  develop  life,  or  he  may  choose  death 
and  the  things  that  lead  thereto.  Why  God 
has  thus  made  man,  and  thus  left  him,  we  may 
not  fully  understand.  It  is  perhaps  enough 
for  us  to  know  that  such  is  the  fact.  That  such 
is  the  fact,  universal  consciousness  most  posi- 
tively testifies.  That  we  are  absolutely  free  to 
will  to  do,  or  not  to  do,  we  know  absolutely. 
We  may  not  be  always  able  to  do  as  we  will, 
but  we  are  able  to  will.  As  I  have  said,  we 
may  not  fully  understand  why  this  is  so,  yet 


84  A  DREAM  OF 

we  may  see  that  true  happiness  is  based  on  true 
virtue,  and  that  true  virtue  can  exist  only  with 
freedom  of  choice.  In  a  mere  machine  we  can- 
not predicate  virtue.  There  is  in  it  neither 
merit  nor  demerit :  it  can  be  neither  blame- 
wortliy  nor  praiseworthy.  Without  free  choice 
man  would  be  the  veriest  machine, — capable  of 
neither  loving  nor  being  loved,  honoring  nor 
being  honored, — and  immortality  to  such  a 
creature  could  be  neither  useful  nor  desirable. 

"  Hence,  in  all  of  God's  dealings  with  man, — 
whether  in  his  creation,  in  the  status  He  has 
given  him,  in  the  manner  in  which  He  has 
addressed  him,  through  the  prophets  or  through 
Jesus  Christ, — He  has  always  and  fully  re- 
spected this  independent  will-power.  He  in- 
vites. He  urges,  He  reasons,  He  persuades.  He 
threatens,  but  He  nowhere  forces.  He  eveiy- 
where  addresses  us  as  rational,  independent 
creatures,  capable  of  reasoning  and  judging 
and  determining  for  ourselves,  whether  we  will 
or  will  not.  The  consequence  of  our  choice  is 
placed  clearly  before  us,  but  we  are  left  freely 
to  choose  the  good  or  the  bad, — everlasting  life 
or  everlasting  death. 

"  Christianity  does  not  profess  to  convince 
the  self-opinionated,  the  headstrong,  the  per- 
verse, the  profane,  the  self-satisfied.  It  exer- 
cises no  direct,  controlling  influence  or  power 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  85 

over  such.  When  mau  becomes  dissatisfied 
with  his  coudition  aud  prospects,  and  inquires 
for  a  remedy,  then  Christianity  has  for  him  an 
important  message,  and  one  which,  if  he  care- 
fully listens,  he  will  find  is  addressed  to  both 
his  understandino;  and  his  heart." 


86  -4   DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER   yi. 

The  publication  from  which  I  have  quoted 
continues  : 

"  The  blessed  gospel  of  Jesus  has  been  nom- 
inally preached  for  more  than  nineteen  hundred 
years,  with  a  result  that  must  be  unsatisfactory 
to  every  thoughtful  believer.  That  this  gospel 
contains  a  panacea  for  every  personal,  social, 
and  political  evil,  few  serious  and  thinking 
people  entertain  an  honest  doubt.  It  aims  to 
reach  every  wrong  through  personal  character, 
to  purify  the  whole  by  the  regeneration  of  the 
individuals,  to  reach  the  mass  through  the  ele- 
ments of  the  mass.  The  individual  is  the  in- 
teger of  society,  the  unit  which  being  multi- 
plied makes  society  and  the  state.  Society  is 
intelligent,  is  good  or  bad,  as  these  integers  are 
intelligent,  good  or  bad.  The  gospel  of  Jesus 
is  wonderfully  adapted  to  perfecting  these  in- 
tegers, to  improving  the  capacities  and  char- 
acters of  these  individuals. 

"  Why  is  it  that  this  gospel  has  taken  hold 
of  the  public  mind  so  slowly?  Why  have 
nineteen  hundred  years  of  its  preaching  pro- 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  87 

diiced  such  meagre  results  ?  A  large  portion 
of  the  population  of  Mars  have  never  heard 
of  this  gospel.  But  a  fraction  of  those  who 
have  heard  of  it  have  been  brought  into  our 
churches.  And  but  a  fraction  of  those  brought 
into  tlie  churches  give  any  evidence  of  having 
been  brouo-ht  under  the  direct  and  regenerative 
influence  of  this  gospel.     Why  is  this  ? 

"  Chemistry  is  only  a  little  more  than  a  cen- 
tury old,  and  what  strides  it  has  made  !  The 
knowledge  of  it  is  eagerly  sought  all  over  the 
planet,  and  its  books  have  been  translated  into 
almost  every  written  language  by  the  people 
speaking  the  languages,  themselves,  without  the 
aid  of  missionaries  or  foreign  teachers.  All 
our  advances  and  discoveries  in  science  are  pro- 
mulgated in  all  languages,  as  rapidly  as  trans- 
lations can  be  made.  The  people  everywhere 
and  always  display  an  eagerness  for  such  knowl- 
edge as  may  be  interesting  or  useful ;  yet  the 
gospel  of  Jesus,  embracing  the  choicest  instruc- 
tion, and  grandly  interesting  in  all  its  phases, 
does  not  advance  except  by  tremendous  push- 
ing,— by  great  human  effort  and  expenditure. 
Why  this  difference  ?  '  Oh,'  answers  Ortho- 
doxy, '  it  is  because  of  the  natural  depravity 
of  tlie  human  heart.  The  natural  heart  instinc- 
tively and  persistently  rejects  a  knowledge  of 
God  and  of  self,  while  it  eagerly  seeks  every 


88  '1   DREAM  OF 

other  knowledge.'  This  answer  cannot  be  true, 
because  all  science,  all  knowledge  is  of  God. 
His  word  is  written  in  the  rocks,  the  earths, 
and  the  waters,  in  the  clouds  and  the  skies,  as 
truly  as  in  the  Bible.  Some  reason  other  than 
natural  depravity  must  be  found.  Have  we 
not  diluted  this  gospel  in  our  teaching  ?  Nay, 
worse,  have  we  not  injected  into  it  that  which 
is  unwholesome  and  distasteful?  All  people 
want  bread,  and  seek  and  accept  it  gladly. 
Suppose  all  bread,  before  kneading,  should  be 
mixed  with  water  in  which  quassia,  or  bitter- 
wood,  had  been  steeped,  would  it  be  so  eagerly 
and  so  universlly  sought  and  used  ?  It  prob- 
ably would  not  deteriorate  the  wholesomeness 
of  the  bread,  yet  all  the  doctors  and  bakers  and 
millers  and  grain-raisers  on  the  planet  could  not 
make  it  an  acceptable  article  of  food.  Now 
and  then  one  might  be  induced  to  take  it,  with 
a  wry  face,  as  a  medicine,  but  very  few  would 
ever  choose  it  for  the  love  of  it. 

"  Now,  is  it  certain  that  the  spirit  of  evil  did 
not,  through  the  corrupted  priesthood  in  the 
early  ages  of  the  church,  inject  the  extract  of  a 
spiritual  quassia  into  our  Christianity  ?  Is  there 
not  still  in  our  preaching  and  teaching  some  of 
this  bitter  foreign  substance,  so  distasteful  as  to 
cause  the  whole  loaf  to  be  rejected  by  very  many 
people  ?" 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  89 

The  author  then  goes  on  to  illustrate  by  dis- 
cussing the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  and 
the  doctrine  of  substitution,  to  the  same  eifcct 
as  set  forth  in  the  last  two  preceding  chapters. 
He  then  proceeds  to  discuss  the  doctrine  of 
natural  depravity,  something  in  this  way  : 

"  The  church  has  long  taught  that,  because 
of  a  taint  received  away  back,  at  or  near  the 
origin  of  our  race,  all  men  are  of  necessity 
born  in  sin  and  iniquity,  with  a  natural  pro- 
clivity to  evil,  and  that  all  this  is  because  of 
the  fall  of  our  first  parents.  In  other  words, 
that  in  Adam  the  whole  race  fell,  seminally, 
and  that,  as  a  consequence,  all  the  following 
generations  were  contaminated  at  the  very  core 
of  their  moral  beings.  The  scriptural  founda- 
tion for  this  doctrine  is  very  slight.  There  is 
abundant  scriptural  evidence  of  the  spiritual 
death  of  our  first  parents,  and  also  of  the  fact 
that  natural  man  comes  into  the  world  spirit- 
tually  dead.  He  is  born  an  animal,  and  only 
an  animal.  He  is  by  nature  just  what  Adam 
was  before  God  breathed  into  him  spiritual  life. 
He  is  an  animal  capable  of  almost  unlimited 
intellectual  culture,  and  is  so  constituted  that 
God  may  breathe  into  him  the  breath  of  life, 
and  lie  become  a  living  soul,  as  Adam  did,  and 
become  capable  of  unlimited  spiritual  culture. 
But  all  this  gives  no  reason  why  by  nature 
8* 


90  A    DREAM  OF 

man  should  be  any  more  set  for  sin  than 
against  it. 

"  If  we  will  turn  our  attention  to  the  natural 
laws  of  heredity,  as  discovered  and  unfolded  by 
scientists,  Ave  shall  learn  all  there  is  of  natural 
depravity,  and  may  learn  a  valuable  lesson  as 
to  how  we  may  change  its  current. 

"  This  doctrine  of  natural  depravity,  as 
preached  and  taught,  is  a  lion  in  the  way  of  the 
radical  improvement  of  our  race.  It  discour- 
ages and  kills  effort  at  the  very  point  where 
effort  is  most  effective,  and  it  furnishes  an 
excuse  for  all  the  wickedness  arising  from 
neglected  childhood.  It  is  one  of  the  great 
obstacles  to  the  complete  work  of  the  gospel 
of  Jesus,  almost  closing  the  gate  to  the  king- 
dom. It  leaves  childhood,  the  most  impressible 
period  of  human  life,  practically,  perhaps  not 
theoretically,  out  of  consideration,  and  waits 
for  what  is  called  the  age  of  intellectual  dis- 
cretion, when  the  character  is  already  largely 
formed,  and  comparatively  few  can  be  reached 
with  regenerative  influences. 

"  There  are  very  few  scholars  to-day,  in  or 
out  of  the  pulpit,  in  or  out  of  the  church,  who 
do  not  accept  tlie  general  doctrine  of  evolution 
as  the  explanation  of  God's  metliod  of  creation. 
They  may  differ  as  to  how  often  it  may  have 
been  necessary  for  God  to  step  in  and,  by  his 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  91 

creative  energy,  bridge  chasms  which  his  pre-es- 
tablished Jaws  are  supposed  to  have  been  unable 
to  leap ;  and  yet  that  God  has  evolved  the  world 
substantially  as  it  is  out  of  chaotic  and  sublimated 
matter,  by  the  regular  operation  of  established 
laws,  nearly  all  agree.  This  is  now  practically 
demonstrated  by  science,  and  is  so  admitted. 

"  Again,  nearly  all  agree  that  the  labors  and 
throes  of  nature,  from  the  beginning,  have  been 
its  efforts  to  produce  man  ;  that  every  step  of 
the  process,  from  the  formation  of  the  land,  the 
air,  and  the  water,  and  the  fii*st  crude  forms  of 
vegetable  and  animal  life  that  inhabited  them, 
was  a  step  towards,  a  prophecy  of,  and  an  ele- 
ment in  the  creation  of  man.  In  other  words, 
man  was  from  the  beginning  the  foreseen  end 
of  creation.  In  making  man,  God  made  ever}^- 
thino;  else.  Not  that  God  was  oblig-ed  to  '  cut 
and  try,'  to  experiment,  and  to  throw  away 
failures,  until  he  finally  reached  man,  by  a  long 
series  of  such  experiments.  God  peopled  and 
occupied  the  planet,  in  its  slow  process  of  forma- 
tion, with  animals  and  vegetables  suited  to  its 
condition  at  the  time.  God  worked  then  as  he 
does  now,  by  means  ;  God  might  make  full  ears 
of  corn,  but  he  does  not.  He  once  created  a 
self-perj:)etuating  corn-germ,  and  allowed  that 
germ  to  bring  forth  the  full  ear,  by  a  proper 
juxtaposition  and  co-operation  with  soil,  moist- 


92  A   DREAM  OF 

ure,  heat,  air,  and  light,  and  the  patient  waiting 
for  a  requisite  lapse  of  time. 

"  Mlieu  we  say  that  man  was  from  the  be- 
ginning the  foreseen,  the  foreordained  end  of 
creation,  the  ultima  thide  of  God's  creative  work, 
we  do  not  mean  man  as  we  now  see  him,  not 
man  as  he  now  is,  not  man  with  his  strong 
controlling  passions  and  appetites,  not  man 
under  control  of  the  brute  elements  of  his 
nature;  but  mau  in  his  ultimate  possibilities, 
man  of  whom  the  best  living  specimens  are 
only  faint  and  indistinct  prophecies.  To  the 
production  of  this  mau,  God  has  directed  his 
creative  energies  through  the  myriads  of  yeai*s 
past,  and  it  is  l>elieved  will  through  long  years 
to  come,  until  this  man  shall  stand  forth  in  his 
perfection,  the  fitting  climax  of  creation,  the 
worthy  product  of  the  love  and  wisdom  of  the 
infinite  God. 

"  This  climax  is  to  be  reached  not  by  the 
creation  of  a  higher  genus  or  species  of  man, 
but  by  an  improvement  and  perfection  of  the 
present  race.  This  we  argue  from  the  fact  that 
in  mankind  now  there  is  a  longing  for,  an  ex- 
pectation of,  and  a  deep  inner  consciousness  of 
an  ability  to  attain  a  degree  of  perfection  never 
yet  reached.  Probably  no  man  lives  without  a 
consciousness  of  ability  to  be  a  larger  and  better 
man  than  he  now  is.     This  consciousness  is  not 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  93 

merely  a  prophecy,  but  an  almost  absolute 
proof  that  the  perfect  man  is  to  be  found  in 
the  highest  development  of  the  present  race  of 
men.     How?     When?     Where? 

"  Our  civilization,  even  what  we  call  our 
Christian  civilization,  in  many  cases  does  not 
so  much  expose  and  remove  the  elements  of 
barbarism  as  it  hides  and  covers  up.  Well- 
made  and  well-fitting  clothing,  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  a  few  conventional  rules  and  cultivated 
manners,  may,  and  often  do,  cover  up  and  hide 
from  the  casual  observer  the  veriest  savage  in 
the  world:  To  others  a  man  may  seem  refined 
and  cultured,  he  may  sit  in  church  and  look 
demure  and  solemn,  and  be  prompt  and  loud 
in  reading  his  prayers,  and  yet  in  heart  be  a 
brutish  savage.  In  all  his  inner  sympathies 
he  may  yet  be  on  all  fours  with  the  prowling 
wolf  and  rooting  swine,  a  mere  animal  filled 
with  brutish  lusts  and  passions. 

"  jVIan,  having  by  evolution  come  up  through 
the  brute  creation,  has  legitimately  inherited 
much  of  the  brute  nature,  and  with  it  the  self- 
indulgence,  narrowness,  and  selfishness  befitting 
such  a  nature.  God  has  planted  the  ovule,  the 
germ,  of  an  immortal  spirituality,  which  begets 
within  him  a  yearning,  sometimes  very  feeble, 
for  purity  and  uprightness  and  charity  and 
peace  and  goodness. 


94  ^   DREAM  OF 

"Thus,  man  has  a  twofold  nature,  each 
struggling  for  the  supremacy,  and  each  suc- 
ccediug  according  to  its  proportionate  strength. 
If  the  brute  is  the  stronger,  the  spiritual  is 
subordinate  and  made  to  serve  the  brute,  and 
in  this  way  man  is  capable  of  becoming  more 
brutal  than  any  brute  can  be.  When  the  divine 
element  in  man  is  mustered  into  the  service  of 
the  brute  element,  man  sinks  to  his  lowest  depth, 
and  when  the  brute  element  is  made  to  serve 
the  divine  element,  he  rises  to  his  highest  estate. 

"  AVhat  we  call  instinct  in  the  lower  animals 
is  largely  transmitted  education,  transmitted 
through  so  many  generations  as  to  have  become 
fixed  and  typical,  and  capable  of  reproducing 
its  kind. 

"  It  has  been  found  in  the  brute  world  that 
an  animal's  character  may  be  radically  changed 
by  a  few  generations  of  careful  and  persistent 
education  and  training,  so  that  a  new  type,  pro- 
ducing after  its  kind,  may  be  developed,  and 
thus  the  results  of  the  training  and  education 
are  transmitted  to  subsequent  generations,  gov- 
erned by  the  well-established  laws  of  heredity. 
What  are  known  as  coach-dogs  and  the  differ- 
ent species  of  hunting-dogs  are  all  well-known 
examples  of  the  o})eration  of  the  laws  of  hered- 
ity. A  few  generations  ago  (dog  generations) 
none  of  the  peculiar  characteristics  presented  by 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  95 

these  dogs  had  an  existence.  It  required  sev- 
eral such  generations  of  persistent  training  to 
establish  in  them  what  is  now  natural  and  is 
now  called  instinct.  These  dogs  will  now  per- 
form without  training  the  duties  which  were 
with  laborious  patience  and  difficulty  taught 
their  ancestors. 

"  From  these  illustrations  we  may  infer  two 
important  truths :  (1)  that  much  of  that  which 
we  call  instinct  and  natural  tendency  is  only 
transmitted  education ;  (2)  that  the  original 
nature  and  character  may  be  radically  changed 
by  a  few  generations  of  persistent  education 
and  training. 

"  These  truths  are  pretty  well  understood  by 
teachers  of  domestic  animals,  and  much  prac- 
tical use  is  made  of  them.  This  transmission 
by  heredity  reaches  also  to  dispositions  and 
temjjcrs,  to  moral  character,  so  far  as  dumb 
animals  have  such  character.  Hence  kindness 
and  gentleness  are  carefully  sought  in  breeding 
family  horses,  cows,  etc. 

"  Is  it  presumption  to  assert  that  the  same 
laws  of  heredity  act  with  full  and  equal  force 
in  the  human  family  ?  They  seem  to  be  laws 
of  the  animal  kingdom,  and  reaching  to  all 
parts  of  it,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest. 
Every  one  knows  by  observation  that  the  pro- 
nounced traits   of  parents  are  reproduced  in 


96  A  DREAM  OF 

their  children.  Go  into  any  family  of  several 
children  where  the  parents  are  strikingly  dis- 
similar in  their  ruling  characteristics,  and  we 
will  find  some  like  the  father,  others  like  the 
mother,  and  some  perhaps  a  cross  between  the 
two,  and  sometimes  unhappy  because  of  the 
possession  of  conflicting  temperaments.  Occa- 
sionally we  will  find  a  child  strikingly  unlike 
either  father  or  mother,  but,  if  we  trace  back 
the  lines  of  descent  a  few  generations,  we  are 
certain  to  find  its  prototype. 

"  Character  consists  in  one's  habits  of  feel- 
ing, thinking,  and  acting.  It  is  formed,  or 
built  up,  in  the  formative  stage  of  human  life, 
and  that  means  early  life, — infancy,  childhood, 
and  youth.  This  character  is  a  part  of  the 
person ;  we  may  say  it  is  the  person,  the  indi- 
viduality, and,  when  once  formed,  is  almost  as 
fixed  and  permanent  as  the  color  of  the  eyes. 
True,  it  is  possible  for  this  character  to  be 
changed  in  after-life,  but  such  change  cannot 
be  counted  on.  '  Can  the  Ethiopian  change 
his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?  Then  may 
ye  also  do  good  that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil.' 

"  Even  when  a  change  occurs  in  after-life,  it 
rarely,  if  ever,  reaches  the  foundation,  the  base 
of  character,  but  acts  more  like  the  grafted  tree, 
— it  improves  and  sweetens  the  fruit  of  the 
branches,  while  the  sprouts  springing  from  the 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  97 

roots  are  from  the  old  stock.  It  is  also  a 
curious  and  iustructive  fact  that  the  seed-germ 
of  the  most  luscious  apple  or  peach  grown  upon 
a  grafted  tree  produces  not  after  the  kind  of 
the  graft,  but  after  the  kind  of  the  natural  tree. 

"  This  brings  us  to  another  important,  and  by 
far  the  most  important,  law  of  heredity, — viz., 
it  is  a  law  of  animal  reproduction,  as  well  as 
vegetable,  to  breed  fi'om  primal  character,  the 
character  estabhshed  at  the  threshold  of  life. 
Stock-breeders  are  beginning  to  understand  this 
law,  and  are  applying  it  practically.  Stock 
designed  for  breeding  purposes  are  trained  in 
infancy  for  the  special  purpose  for  which  their 
progeny  are  expected  to  be  adapted.  In  a  few 
generations  such  training  always  shows  marked 
and  satisfactory  results.  Horses  trained  to  a 
square  trot  or  a  pace  or  single-foot  before  they 
are  a  year  old  will  transmit  the  results  of  such 
training  to  their  descendants,  but  such  results 
cannot  be  expected  if  the  training  is  deferred 
until  the  hoi*se  is  six  or  eight  vears  of  age.  The 
same  is  true  of  any  habits  formed  before  maturity. 

"The  conclusion  therefore  is  that,  if  children 
are  properly  taught  and  trained  and  the  for- 
mation of  their  habits  properly  cared  for  from 
birth  to  maturity  for  a  few  generations,  their 
natural  proclivities  may  be  changed  from  evil 
to  good.  Children  are  what  they  are  at  birth 
K       ^r  9 


98  ^    DREAM  OF 

because  of  the  character — primal  character — of 
their  immediate  or  not  very  remote  ancestors. 

"lu  the  human  family  hereditary  traits  do 
not  reach  through  as  many  generations — or, 
rather,  need  not — as  in  the  brute  families,  for 
two  reasons : 

"  1.  Human  infancy  is  more  teachable  than 
brute  infancy. 

"  2.  Human  infancy  is  much  longer  than  brute 
infancy. 

"  The  more  teachable,  and  the  longer  the  in- 
fancy, the  more  can  be  done  to  change  a  nature 
in  a  single  generation.  It  would  take  a  much 
less  number  of  generations  to  change  the  habits 
of  a  dog  than  of  an  oyster,  simply  because  a 
doo;  has  more  brains  and  is  more  teachable. 
The  human  has  the  longest  infancy  of  any  of 
God's  creatures,  and  is  the  most  teachable, 
thereby  affording  facility  for  a  comparatively 
rapid  perfection  of  mankind. 

"  If  the  millennial  days,  of  which  we  hear 
much,  are  ever  to  come,  they  must  be  looked 
for  through  the  proper  utilization  of  this  pro- 
longed human  infancy. 

"  If  the  time  ever  comes  when  *  There  shall 
be  none  to  say.  Know  ye  the  Lord,  but  all  shall 
know  him,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest,'  it  will 
be  after  the  lessons  of  heredity  are  well  learned 
and  conscientiously  practised. 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  99 

"  Probably  more  can  be  done  to  arrest  and 
change  hereditary  traits  in  one  human  genera- 
tion than  in  ten  dog  generations.  Yet,  when 
we  see  how  much  has  been  done  by  the  teaching 
and  training  of  dogs  and  other  animals, — how 
by  these  means  new  types  and  new  species  with 
new  tastes  and  habits  have  been  created, — is  it 
not  astonishing  that  no  systematic,  practical 
method  has  been  blazed  out  by  which  children 
may  be  so  trained  and  taught  as  more  effectually 
to  eliminate  from  them  the  brute  element  of 
their  natures,  or  at  least  to  enable  them  more 
successfully  to  subordinate  the  lower  to  the 
higher  elements  ? 

"  If  the  passions  and  the  appetites  and  all  the 
natural  inclinations  of  our  children  are  simply 
inherited  characteristics,  transmitted  habits  of 
thought,  feeling,  and  action, — as  undoubtedly 
they  are, — then,  counter  or  accelerating  educa- 
tion having  so  long  to  operate  upon  infaucy, 
the  course  of  the  hereditary  current  may  be 
greatly  strengthened  if  right,  or  radically 
changed  if  wrong,  in  a  single  generation,  so 
that  the  benefit  will  be  reaped  in  the  next  gen- 
eration by  a  clearer  sky  at  dawn. 

"  By  the  term  '  education,'  in  this  connection, 
is  meant  not  merely  set  lessons,  but  the  Avhole 
atmosphere  and  surroundings  of  a  child  that 
exert  any  influence  whatever  upon   its  nature 


100  A    DREAM  OF 

and  developmcut.  All  the  environments  of  a 
child  are  more  or  less  educational  and  go  to 
make  character.  His  teachers  are  found  not 
only  in  his  parents  and  employed  instructors, 
but  in  brothers  and  sisters  and  mates,  in  ser- 
vant-girls, nurses,  coachmen,  and  even  in  the  dog 
and  cat.  This  education  begins  during  the  first 
hour  of  a  child's  life.  At  birth  a  human  in- 
fant is  a  mere  animal,  and  the  most  helpless  of 
all  animal  infants.  Its  first  want  is  food.  The 
demands  of  the  stomach  are  the  first  to  have 
attention,  and  indiscretion  in  supplying  these  de- 
mands often  gives  a  wrong  tendency  to  a  whole 
life.  A  calf  or  a  pig  is  fed  as  its  health  or 
growth  demands,  without  regard  to  its  crying 
for  food  between  times  of  feeding,  and  thereby 
it  soon  learns  to  bide  its  time  in  patience,  or,  in 
other  words,  brings  its  appetite  under  control 
of  the  will.  But  the  child  is  generally  caught 
up  and  fed  every  time  it  cries  or  worries,  with 
no  regard  to  its  health  or  actual  want,  and 
thereby  a  majority  of  children  are  made  glut- 
tons before  they  are  a  month  old,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  will  is  brought  under  control  of  the 
appetite.  Many  parents  recognize  and  admit 
this  in  the  subsequent  government  of  their 
children,  and  reward  good  behavior  by  sweet- 
meats, and  punish  misdemeanors  by  denying 
something  the  appetite  crave? ;    and  yet  they 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  IQl 

will  charge  to  natural  depravity  a  son's  glut- 
tony or  drunkenness,  when  in  fact  it  is  the  im- 
mediate result  of  parental  training.  The  boy 
who  is  at  the  beoinniuo-  of  life  taujrht  well  the 
lessons  of  self-denial  and  self-control,  so  taught 
that  the  lessons  become  habits,  will  never  be  a 
glutton  or  drunkard.  If  parents  Mould  exer- 
cise as  much  judgment  and  sense  in  the  care  of 
their  children  as  of  their  dumb  animals,  there 
would  be  little  occasion  to  invoke  natural  de- 
pravity as  a  scape-goat  for  their  own  blun- 
derings.  Nature  does  not  deprave  childhood 
a  thousandth  part  as  much  as  bad  education 
docs. 

"  If  these  views  are  correct,  what  a  field  is 
here  opened  for  parents,  and  teachers,  and 
preachers  of  the  gospel  !  It  is  the  practical 
channel,  and  the  only  one,  open  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  our  race.  Our  Saviour  said,  'Suffer 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them 
not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.' 
That  is,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  made  of 
little  children, — not  children  merely,  but  little 
children.  If  we  would  build  up  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  little  children  must  constitute  our 
material,  our  brick  and  mortar,  for  so  doing. 
Christianity  must  be  worked  into  character  as 
its  proper  foundation,  its  Avarp  and  woof, — not 
dogmatic  Christianity,  but  practical  Christian- 


102  ^    DREAM  OF 

ity, — truthfulness,  honesty,  faithfulness,  sin- 
cerity, self-control,  self-denial,  perseverance, 
patience,  cheerfulness,  sweetness  of  temper  and 
disposition,  sacrificial  love,  etc.  Training  in 
these  should  begin  with  the  first  breath  of  life, 
and  never  be  relaxed  until  thoroughly  inwrought 
into  character.  Such  training  reaches  to  gen- 
erations unborn,  and  those  who  administer  it 
may  feel  that  they  are  teaching  the  ages  to 
come. 

"A  few  generations  of  such  training  and 
teachino;,  and  the  world  will  hear  no  more  of 
natural  depravity  as  a  religious  dogma. 

"  When  the  Christian  ministry,  the  public 
teachers,  the  heads  and  hearts  of  Christian 
parents,  are  made  fully  to  comprehend  the 
power  of  heredity,  and  the  influence  of  educa- 
tion and  training  upon  it,  then  will  begin  the 
dawn  of  the  day  when  'all  shall  know  the 
Lord.'  Not  that  children  will  then  come  into 
the  world  Christians  ;  but  they  will  come  with 
a  natural  adaptiveness  for  spirituality,  and  will 
take  to  Christianity  as  children  now  do  to  dev- 
iltry, and  we  may  rely  upon  it,  that  the  spirit 
will  be  born  into  every  heart  that  is  prepared 
for  it.  God  will  inhabit  every  temple  fitted 
for  his  habitation. 

"  The  idea  tliat  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 
metic   constitute   education    is   very    properly 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  103 

ridiculed,  yet  little  more  is  aimed  at  in  any  of 
our  systems  of  education,  at  home  or  at  school. 

"  In  our  higher  institutions,  our  colleges  and 
seminaries,  the  sciences  are  added  to  the  rudi- 
ments ;  yet  it  is  on  the  same  line,  in  the  same 
direction,  as  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, — 
all  looking  simply  to  intellectual  attainments. 

"  Every  one  is  conscious  that  body  and  intel- 
lect are  not  the  whole  of  a  man, — that  there  is 
something  more, — and  we  are  also  conscious 
that  that  *  something  more'  is  of  greater  impor- 
tance than  body  and  intellect,  and  that  it  is 
likewise  susceptible  of  education  and  develop- 
ment. This  'something  more'  has  not  had  in 
our  educational  work  sufficient  attention  even 
to  ffive  it  and  its  elements  a  nomenclature. 
Our  language  is  poverty-stricken  for  words 
with  which  to  point  out  the  means  of  educating 
this  third  and  most  important  element  in  man. 

"  In  olden  times  that  portion  of  our  natures 
not  purely  animal  was  divided  into  head  and 
heart.  Some  liave  divided  our  immateriality 
into  mind  and  soul,  but,  for  many  reasons,  this 
is  indefinite  and  unsatisfactory.  Others  have 
given  us  the  threefold  division  of  intellect,  sen- 
sibilities, and  tcill,  but  many  treat  icill  as  a 
function  rather  than  an  attribute. 

"But,  whatever  may  be  the  classification, 
this  'sometliins:  more'  is  the  divine  element  in 


104  ^    DREAM  OF 

US, — the  spirit-germ, — that  attribute  of  the  soul 
which,  if  properly  directed,  loves,  and  from 
which  flow  sympathy,  generosity,  magnanimity, 
gratitude,  forgiveness,  charity,  and  all  the  good 
feelings,  or,  if  neglected  or  misdirected,  gives 
rise  to  hate,  revenge,  animosity,  cruelty,  and  all 
the  bad  feelino-s  and  desires.  In  short,  it  is  the 
source  of  all  our  thoughts,  desires,  and  actions 
which  have  moral  character,  and  is  the  seat  of 
our  emotional  nature.  It  is  the  attribute  of 
our  nature  which  makes  us  social  beings,  and 
binds  us  together  in  families,  communities,  and 
states.  Yet,  of  all  the  faculties,  while  of  infi- 
nitely greatest  importance,  it  is  most  neglected 
in  the  trainino;  and  education  of  the  voung. 

"  This  element,  like  the  intellectual,  is  at  first 
only  germinal,  and  is  developed  by  educational 
influences.  These  influences,  in  general,  are 
such  as  chance  throws  around  a  child,  while 
order  and  selection  are  exercised  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  intellect.  If  the  intellect  was 
treated  as  the  sensibilities  are,  children  would 
all  be  idiots.  If  no  education  reaches  the  in- 
tellectual germ,  the  child  grows  up  an  idiot. 
If  no  education  reached  the  moral  germ,  the 
child  would  grow  up  a  moral  idiot.  But,  as 
I  have  already  said,  all  the  environments  of 
a  child  constitute  educational  influences.  So, 
with  no  systematic  or  designed  teaching,  these 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  105 

germinal  elements,  under  the  stimuli  and  de- 
mands of  our  animal  natures,  will  grow,  and 
become  more  or  less  strong,  only  in  a  direction 
at  antipodes  with  the  perfect  man, — strong, 
with  the  God-element  harnessed  in  the  service 
of  the  brute-element.  The  demands  of  the 
animal  nature  are  the  demands  first  proclaimed, 
and  they  are  loudly  and  persistently  proclaimed, 
and,  if  thoughtlessly  or  carelessly  indulged, 
will  rapidly  grow  in  number  and  persistency 
until  they  become  overpowering. 

"  The  protection  of  the  spirit-germ  by  merely 
shutting  the  child  away  from  bad  influences  is 
not  good  education,  and  does  not  necessarily 
conduce  to  healthful  spiritual  development.  It 
may  conduce  to  innocence,  but  mere  innocence 
is  spiritual  idiocy.  The  moral  nature  of  a 
child  can  be  properly  developed  only  in  contact 
with  the  world  in  which  it  is  to  live.  It  must 
cultivate  the  power  of  choice,  and  form  the 
habit  of  choosing  the  right,  and,  above  all,  it 
must  cultivate  the  power  and  habit  of  resisting 
and  overcoming  the  wrong.  The  perfection  of 
our  race  can  never  be  reached  through  the  nun- 
nery and  monastery. 

"  Even  the  intellect,  for  its  best  development, 
must  rely  largely  upon  the  illuminating  and 
guiding  power  of  this  God-clement.  Our 
purposes,   and    the  strength  and  vigor  of  our 


106  A    DREAM  OF 

purposes,  and  consequently  the  power  of  our 
wills,  are  from  this  clement.  How  many  very 
learned  men  are  mere  intellectual  drones  in 
society,  simply  because  they  lack  purpose  and 
will-power. 

"Man's  character  is  just  what  the  develop- 
ment and  general  tendency  of  his  moral  nature 
has  made  it,  yet  character-education  plays  a 
minor  part  in  all  our  systems  of  education. 

"  This  is  made  conspicuous  in  the  anxiety  of 
almost  every  mother  when  her  son  is  away  at 
college.  She  knows  his  intellect  is  being  well 
cared  for,  and  she  also  knows  his  heart  is  being 
neglected.  Character-education  is  always  pro- 
gressing with  every  boy  and  girl,  either  under 
intelligent  and  wise  direction,  or  under  the  hap- 
hazard neglect  of  chance,  and  in  a  majority  of 
cases  the  students  are  matriculated  in  Prof. 
Chance's  classes.  Occasionally  an  instructor  is 
so  well  informed  about  these  matters,  and  is  so 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  love  of  the  pure 
and  the  good,  and  so  wise  in  his  iuliuence  and 
counsel,  as  to  i-each  the  high  level  of  a  genuine 
character-educator,  and  every  student  uncon- 
sciously becomes  a  better  man,  and  leads  a 
better  and  more  successful  life,  because  of 
having  been  under  his  guidance  and  influence. 

"  How  to  accomplish  the  end  here  suggested 
is  and  should  be  a  great  question.     In  educa- 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  107 

tion,  as  in  everything  else,  iu  a  government  of 
the  people,  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  much  in 
advance  of  the  demand.  At  present  the  scram- 
ble for  wealth  is  so  great  that  all  our  people 
call  for  is  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic, — 
simply  the  education  of  the  intellect  and  the 
hands.  They  are  afraid  of  too  much  integrity 
and  conscience,  as  these  functions  are  liable  to 
awaken  too  many  scruples  as  to  the  methods  in 
business  affairs.  They  would  rather  trust  to 
luck  for  character.  Character  is  of  so  little  ac- 
count that  even  many  of  our  nominally  Chris- 
tian parents  turn  the  formative  years  of  their 
children  over  to  nurses  and  servants  who  are  not 
capable  of  teaching  even  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  and  who  have  no  more  interest  or 
care  for  the  character  of  their  charge  than  if 
the  children  were  so  many  puppies.  Character- 
education  is  not  appreciated.  Its  importance  is 
not  valued  even  by  our  Christian  people,  nor  by 
our  Christian  pulpit.  There  is  little  demand 
for  it.  All  reliance  is  placed  on  '  conversion.' 
The  children  are  educated  for  the  devil,  and 
then  their  conversion  is  sought  through  the 
Sabbath-school  and  the  pulpit,  forgetting  the 
inspired  interrogatory,  'Can  the  Ethiopian 
change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?' 
This  Scripture  interrogatory  is  brimful  of  real 
life   and    sound    philosophy.     It   ought  to   be 


108  ^   DREAM  OF 

burned  into  the  palm  of  the  right  hand  of 
every  father  and  mother  and  teacher  and 
preacher,  so  as  at  all  times  to  be  before  the 
eyes  of  every  person  responsible  for  the  habits, 
thoughts,  and  feelings  of  children. 

"  Of  course  God  can  change  the  skin  of  the 
Ethiopian.  He  can  change  the  spots  of  the 
leopard.  Pie  can  make  water  run  up  hill. 
But  we  cannot  reasonably  expect  him  to  do 
either.  It  would  be  just  as  rational  in  us  to 
erect  a  water-wheel  on  top  of  a  hill  to  drive 
machinery,  and  then  get  upon  our  knees  and 
devoutly  pray  that  God  would  make  the  water 
run  up  the  hill  and  over  our  water-wheel,  as 
to  turn  our  children  over  to  ignorant  nurses, 
corrupt  servants,  and  thoughtless  and  giddy 
teachers,  and  then  hope  to  save  them  by  prayers. 

"  The  voice  of  pulpit  eloquence  in  thunder 
tones  must  ring  in  Christian  ears,  on  the  crime 
and  wickedness  of  this  gross  neglect  of  child- 
hood. Good  people  who  appreciate  this  matter 
must  everywhere  write  and  talk  and  teach  until 
people  are  awake,  and  Christians  renovate  their 
homes  and  direct  their  thoughts  and  their  hearts 
more  to  their  children.  Then  we  may  expect 
the  demand  for  a  higher,  deeper,  purer  educa- 
tion, and  none  but  such  as  are  masters  of  this 
truer,  better  education  will  find  places  as  in- 
structors in  our  schools  and  colleges. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  109 

"To  teach  a  child  to  become  master  of 
arithmetic  is  important  and  useful,  but  to  teach 
him  to  become  master  of  his  appetites  and  pas- 
sions, to  become  honest  and  trustworthy,  gentle 
and  generous,  forbearing  and  forgiving,  mer- 
ciful, kind,  and  just,  persevering  and  zealous, 
is  of  infinitely  greater  importance.  If  this  is 
done,  beginning  at  the  dawn  of  life,  it  is  done 
not  only  for  life  but  for  generations  yet  unborn. 
When  these  principles  are  understood,  appre- 
ciated, and  practised,  there  will  be  no  doctrine 
of  natural  depravity,  and  man  will  begin  with 
his  face  towards  the  Lord  and  his  heart  aglow 
with  love  towards  all  mankind.  The  animal- 
element  of  his  nature  will  be  sul)ordinate  to  the 
God-element,  and  he  will  begin  to  cut  loose 
from  his  brute  inheritance,  and  shake  off  the 
dust  from  the  ground  which  now  adheres  with 
so  much  tenacity.  Even  in  this  world,  man 
will  yet  be  of  heaven,  heavenly. 

"  Does  the  reader  ask  when  this  will  be  ? 
Who  can  tell !  '  The  mills  of  the  gods  grind 
slowly,'  but  they  keep  grinding.  With  evolu- 
tion a  thousand  years  are  but  as  a  day  when 
they  are  past." 

This  publication  further  discusses  the  doc- 
trine of  natural  dejjravity,  and  supports  the 
view  that  the  ordinary  laws  of  heredity  com- 
mon to  all  animals,  human  and  brute,  account 
10 


110  A   DREAM  OF 

for  all  the  natural  depravity  found  in  man,  and 
insists  that  it  results  from  false  training  and 
neglect.  Chapters  are  presented  in  Avhieh  these 
views  are  reconciled  with  those  passages  of 
Scripture  on  which  theologians  relied  to  sustain 
the  doctrine  of  natural  depravity,  as  taught  in 
the  orthodox  churches. 

The  most  evident  single  cause  of  the  wretched 
condition  of  society  at  the  time  the  works  I 
quote  from  were  written,  was  the  very  feeble 
condition  of  the  sense  of  justice  in  mankind. 
I  will  quote  a  few  more  paragraphs  on  this 
matter : 

"  The  sufierings  and  the  alarming  discontent 
pervading  society  everywhere  seem  to  arise 
largely  from  an  almost  entire  absence  of  the 
sense  of  justice  in  human  transactions.  Men 
in  dealing  with  each  other  rarely  ask  themselves 
the  question,  Is  it  just?  is  it  equitable?  but 
simply,  Is  it  legal  ?  Can  I  do  it  and  not  render 
myself  amenable  to  the  law  ?  In  this  way  men 
— even  professing  Christian  men — will  falsely 
represent  what  they  have  to  sell  to  obtain  more 
than  it  is  worth,  and  will  depreciate  w4iat  they 
wish  to  buy  so  as  to  get  it  for  less  tlian  its  real 
value.  This  they  will  do  to  the  full  extent 
that  the  laws  will  permit.  They  will  take  ad- 
vantage of  a  man's  necessity,  compelling  him 
to  sell  his  labor  or  his  goods  at  less  than  they 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  m 

are  worth,  simply  because  they  can  do  so.  The 
exaggerated  vahie  attached  to  wealth,  and  tlie 
long  practice  of  obtaining  it  without  thought 
of  rendering  a  full  equivalent  therefor,  have  so 
benumbed  and  paralyzed  the  sense  of  justice 
that  it  rarely  asserts  itself  in  transactions  be- 
tween men.  Those  possessing  wealth  are  gen- 
erally in  a  position  to  dictate  terms  to  those 
without  it,  and  they  usually  dictate  hard  terms. 
This  breeds  a  spirit  of  discontent  with  the  poor, 
and  threatens  the  stability  of  society.  It  leads 
to  the  discussion  of  remedies,  and  develops  ex- 
treme communistic  ideas.  Many  advocate  that 
the  state  should  take  possession  of  all  property, 
thereby  reducing  all  men  to  the  same  property 
level,  and  then  all  be  evenly  compensated  for 
what  they  do,  and  thereby  break  up  property 
distinctions.  The  advocates  of  these  schemes 
forget  that  the  whole  can  be  no  better  than  the 
sum  of  good  found  in  the  individuals.  And  in 
estimating  the  sum  we  can  count  only  the  ex- 
cess of  the  good  over  the  bad  in  the  individuals. 
As  men  now  are,  the  sum  total  of  the  good  in 
business  management  in  society,  after  the  de- 
ductions mentioned,  would  not  be  a  large  sum. 
The  fallacy  is  in  supposing  that  society  caft  be 
better  than  the  individuals  composing  it.  The 
fact  is,  society  can  be  improved  only  by  im- 
proving its  members.     It  will  be  better  when 


112  ^    DREAM  OF 

the  individuals  composing  it  are  better,  and  not 
until  then.  A  corporation,  morally,  is  an  em- 
bodiment and  agent  of  the  morality  of  the 
stockholders  and  directors.  If  we  would  make 
the  corporation  just,  we  must  develop  the  sense 
of  justice  in  its  stockholders  and  managers.  If 
we  would  have  society  and  government  just,  we 
must  develop  the  sense  of  justice  in  the  majori- 
ties. The  stream  will  not  rise  higher  than  its 
source.  The  sense  of  justice  must  be  made 
strong  in  early  childhood.  Children  must  form 
the  habit  early  and  strongly  of  being  just  and 
equitable  in  all  they  do.  '  Quid  pro  quo' 
should  be  their  motto  reduced  to  practice.  A 
few  generations  of  such  teachings  will  banish 
many  of  the  wrongs  of  society,  and  fairness 
and  equity  will  become  the  rule  in  the  dealings 
between  man  and  man.  Until  then  society  will 
not  stand  on  a  solid  foundation.  The  work  of 
beginning  this  education  must  not  be  delayed, 
for  society  cannot  long  continue  in  its  present 
discontented  and  complaining  condition." 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  113 


CHAPTEE    VII. 

The  doctrines  quoted  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ters correctly  exhibit  the  general  trend  of  the 
intelligent  sentiment  of  the  first  lialf  of  the 
twentieth  century  on  Mars.  About  the  middle 
of  that  century  scientists,  and  more  advanced 
and  scholarly  theologians  of  all  denominations, 
were  substantially  together  in  their  recognition 
of  certain  facts, — viz. : 

1.  That  there  must  be  secured  some  srreat 
social  changes,  or  society  would  lapse  into  a 
semi-chaotic  state,  with  an  increase  in  all  forms 
of  crime. 

2.  That  the  needed  social  change  consisted 
largely  in  a  demand  for  the  better  development 
of  some  of  the  attributes  of  man's  moral  nature, 
which  had  been  so  little  used  as  to  become  ener- 
vated, enfeebled,  and  almost  extinct,  such  as  the 
sense  of  justice,  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
the  sense  of  brotherhood  of  all  mankind,  etc. 

3.  That  these  principles  were  so  nearly  allied 
to  the  religious  sense  that  their  revival  and 
building  up  must  be  looked  for  through  the 
Christian  church. 

h  10* 


114  A   DREAM  OF 

4.  That,  before  the  church  could  be  equipped 
for  this  great  work,  itself  must  be  reformed,  by 
removino;  needless  stumbling-blocks  that  had 
become  incorporated  in  its  creeds,  and  were 
being  venerated,  not  for  their  origin,  but  for 
their  age. 

5.  That  the  churches  should,  in  view  of  the 
light  kindled  by  modern  thought,  revise  their 
creeds  and  make  a  restatement  of  their  doc- 
trines. 

The  united  opinions  of  advanced  thinkers 
had  great  influence  on  the  general  public,  and 
especially  upon  well-informed  and  tiiinking 
people.  The  pulpits  were  gradually  opened  to 
the  spirit  of  modern  thought,  and  particularly 
to  that  feature  of  modern  thought  which  was  a 
revival  of  the  direct  teachings  of  Christ.  The 
demand  of  the  more  intelligent  of  the  clergy 
for  a  restatement  of  the  church  doctrines  was 
awakening  great  interest,  and  obtaining  a  quite 
general  assent,  even  among  those  incompetent 
to  investigate  for  themselves. 

General  assemblies  and  general  conferences 
of  the  various  denominations  were  beginning 
to  ap})()int  committees  to  examine  and  report 
the  changes  that  should  be  made  in  their  creeds. 
These  committees  investigated  and  discussed 
the  subject  in  all  its  pliases,  and,  while  all 
seemed  to  recognize  its  propriety  and  the  ueces- 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  1]5 

sity  of  such  a  restatement,  yet  no  two  com- 
mittees, and  rarely  any  two  individuals  of  the 
same  committee,  could  agree  upon  one  creed. 
This  discussion  and  these  efforts  continued  for 
several  years.  New  committees  were  often  se- 
lected by  the  various  denominations,  but  with 
no  better  success, — they  could  get  no  neai'cr  to 
an  agreement.  At  first  it  had  been  hoped  that 
in  the  readjustments  many  denominational  lines 
would  disappear,  but  as  they  progressed  there 
was  a  danger  that  not  only  all  the  old  lines  of 
separation  would  be  continued,  but  many  new 
ones  established.  It  was  often  found,  when 
men  began  to  think  and  investigate,  that  in  the 
same  denomination,  and  even  in  the  same  church, 
there  were  often  wide  divergencies  on  doctrinal 
points. 

In  God's  providence  the  right  man  always 
comes  forward  when  needed,  and  the  times 
are  ripe  for  him.  Mars  needed  a  wise,  far- 
seeing  man  at  the  time  at  Avhich  we  are  writino;. 
The  church  needed  more  than  a  prophet.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  church  was  in  danger  of  go- 
ing to  pieces,  so  rapidly  were  dissensions  and 
divisions  springing  up. 

The  needed  one  came.  He  brought  out  a 
little  volume  of  less  than  one  hundred  pages, 
the  reading  of  which  settled  the  whole  question 
and  brought  order  out  of  chaos.     It  not  only 


116  A  DREAM  OF 

prevented  further  divisions,  but  also  planted 
the  seed  that  resulted  ultimately  in  blottiug  out 
all  denominational  linos  and  made  the  church  a 
unity.     I  will  quote  a  few  pages  from  it : 

"  The  unhappy  condition  of  the  church  at 
this  time  presents  a  great  lesson  for  Christian 
people.  We  have  all  had  our  creeds  and  codes. 
Each  denomination  has  had  a  creed  of  its  own, 
and  the  people  have  gone  to  this  church  or  that 
according  as  the  creeds  corresponded  with  what 
they  supposed  they  believed.  Very  many  be- 
lieved, not  as  a  result  of  their  own  investiga- 
tion, but  because  of  the  beliefs  of  those  with 
whom  they  were  associated.  Our  creeds  have 
been  our  foundations.  It  was  supposed  that 
these  creeds  clearly  expressed  the  religious  faith 
and  opinions  of  those  who  subscribed  to  them. 
But  the  events  of  the  last  few  years  demon- 
strate the  contrary.  Oin'  creeds  have  not  been 
our  bonds  of  union.  It  has  been  our  igno- 
rance of  these  creeds  tliat  has  held  us  together. 
As  soon  as  it  ceased  to  be  heresy  to  question 
the  truthfulness  and  propriety  of  these  creeds, 
and  we  were  invited  to  turn  upon  them  tlie 
broad  and  penetrating  liglit  of  the  middle  of 
the  twentieth  century,  we  find  that  they  cease 
to  be  bonds  to  hold  us  together,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, are  sources  of  discord  and  disunion.  As 
soon  as  these  creeds  are  examined  with  the  view 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  HJ 

of  restating  our  doctrines  in  forms  more  in 
keeping  with  the  genernl   advance  of  intelli- 
gence, we  are  astonished  to  find  that  they  ex- 
press the  real  belief  of  no  one.     When  we  make 
efforts  to  frame  codes  of  doctrines,  we  find  it 
impossible  for  any  denomination  to  agree  on 
any  creed  that  will  actually  express  the  beliefs 
of  any  two  persons,  to  say  nothing  of  a  congre- 
gation or  a  great  denomination.     The  truth  is 
we  have  never  believed  our  own  creeds.     We 
have  simply  accepted  them  as  our  bonds  of 
union,  without  stopping  to  think  whether  they 
do  or  do  not  express  our  real  sentiments.    Many 
of  us  are  in  this  or  that  church,  more  on  ac- 
count of  social  influences  than  because  of  any 
particular  creed.     As  soon  as  we  turn  the  light 
upon  many  of  these  creeds,  they  dissolve  into 
thin  air ;  thus  our  bond  of  union  is  gone,  and 
chaos  prevails.     Such  must,  from  the  very  na- 
ture of  things,  be  the  case.     It  is  difficult  to 
find  two  thoughtful  investigators  who  will  or 
can  ever  exactly  agree  on  any   statement   of 
beliefs,  on  any  subject,  outside  of  mathematics. 
A  code  of  doctrinal  beliefs  can  never  be  a  com- 
promise among  honest  men.     For  we  must  be- 
lieve, or  not  believe.     It  is  not  in  our  power  to 
believe  this  and  disbelieve  that  to  accommodate 
a  friend,  or  because  he  is  willing  to  do  a  like 
thing  for   us.      Consequently  no  considerable 


118  A   DREAM  OF 

number  will  ever  agree  on  one  code,  unless  they 
perjure  themselves,  or  shut  their  eyes  and  ears 
and  accept  it  without  examination.  For  at 
least  two  generations  past,  the  great  body  of 
church-members  have  subscribed  to  creeds  por- 
tions of  which  they  could  not  believe.  Yet, 
to  become  members  they  were  required  to  affirm 
that  they  did  believe.  I  do  not  mean  to  assert 
that  they  affirmed  their  belief  in  that  which  they 
disbelieved.  It  was  non-belief  rather  than 
disbelief.  At  the  present  time  the  j)eople  in 
the  pews  are  becoming  too  intelligent  thus  to 
accept  and  commit  themselves  to  anything.  So 
the  day  has  passed  when  creeds  can  be  made  the 
basis  of  church  organization.  Such  a  basis  was 
applicable  only  to  times  when  the  pulpit  mo- 
nopolized the  thinking  and  dictated  doctrines. 
Now  we  must  elsewhere  seek  a  basis  on  which 
to  organize. 

"  While  no  considerable  number  of  intelli- 
gent Christian  men  can  agree  upon  a  code  of 
doctrinal  beliefs,  yet  all  will  substantially  agree 
as  to  what  constitutes  a  Christian  character  and 
life,  because  in  Christ  we  always  have  the 
model  before  us. 

"  Why  not,  then,  drop  the  whole  discussion 
of  doctrines,  and  cease  to  rely  upon  imiformity 
of  beliefs  as  a  basis  of  church  union?  Why 
not  make  Christian  character  the  test  of  church 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  HQ 

membership?  Would  not  this  tend  to  develop- 
ing more  of  heart  instead  of  head  religion? 
If  the  heart  is  rio-ht  and  the  life  tlowino-  there- 
from  pure  and  charitable,  what  matter  about 
the  beliefs  of  the  head  ?  If  the  head  be  right 
and  accept  the  whole  creed,  while  the  heart,  the 
life,  and  the  personal  character  are  all  wrong, 
why  should  such  become  church-members  and 
assume  the  name  of  Christian  ?  We  can  agree 
on  what  constitutes  Christian  life  and  character, 
and  we  cannot  hope  to  agree  on  anything  better. 
Let  Christian  character,  then,  be  the  standard, 
the  yard-stick  by  which  to  measure  applicants 
for  church-membership,  and  we  cannot  go  far 
astray.  Let  the  violation  of  such  a  standard 
be  proper  matter  for  reproof  and  discipline. 

"Such  a  standard  will  tend  to  direct  the  at- 
tention of  all  more  to  the  heart  and  life.  With 
such  a  standard  in  place  of  our  creeds,  we  shall 
hear  and  see  much  less  of  materialism,  infi- 
delity, free-thinking,  heresy,  etc.  The  line  of 
separation  then  will  be  between  the  pure  and  the 
impure,  the  honest  and  the  dishonest,  the  just 
and  the  unjust,  the  benevolent  and  the  malevo- 
lent, the  chaste  and  the  unchaste,  the  forgiving 
and  the  revengeful,  the  kind  and  the  unkind, 
the  loving  and  the  hatinti;,  tlie  charitable  and 
the  selfish,  the  true  and  the  false,  the  God-like 
and  the  brute-like. 


120  ^   DREAM  OF 

"Is  not  this  exactly  the  line  marked  out  in 
the  teachings  of  Christ  ?  Can  there  be  any  otiier 
line  of  division  having  Christ  for  its  authority  ? 
Would  not  such  a  standard  induce  very  large 
numbers  to  take  sides  with  the  church  who  are 
now  arrayed  against  or  indifferent  towards  it  ? 

"Such  a  standard  for  church  unity  would 
be  a  broad  basis  for  all  individual  and  social 
reforms.  Injustice  would  be  proper  matter  for 
church  reproof  and  discipline.  This  fact  alone 
would  tend  to  awaken  the  sense  of  justice  in 
men,  a  sense  so  dormant  as  to  have  ahnost 
entirely  dropped  out  of  business  transactions. 
Such  a  standard  would  make  the  church  what 
it  always  should  have  been,  a  great  character- 
builder.  It  would  make  it  the  great  institute 
of  reform ;  its  shoulder  would  always  be  at  the 
wheels  of  civilization,  rolling  them  forward ; 
it  would  be  the  evolutionary  instrument,  in  the 
hands  of  God,  for  lifting  humanity  to  its  high- 
est altitude,  the  altitude  of  the  longed-for  per- 
fect man. 

"  Such  a  church  standard  would  renovate  our 
families  and  awaken  our  fathers  and  mothers 
to  their  responsibilities.  It  would  put  a  new 
spirit  into  our  public  and  private  schools  and 
all  our  educational  institutions.  They  would 
have  their  attention  more  earnestly  turned  to 
character-education,  to  true  life.     With  such  a 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  121 

standard,  God  would  be  found  in  our  school- 
books  and  literature  and  in  the  curricula  of  our 
colleges.  The  belief  in  an  overrulino-  God 
would  become  universal.  It  probably  is  nearly 
or  quite  so  now.  Men  deny  our  definitions  of 
God, — they  deny  the  character  we  assign  to 
God,  and  make  themselves  think  they  do  not 
believe  in  God ;  and  we  stigmatize  them  atheists. 
Our  creeds  have  made  infidels.  Our  creeds  have 
filled  society  and  the  church  with  unbelievers." 
The  publications  of  that  period  show  that 
these  suggestions  came  at  just  the  right  time, 
and  were  very  soon  adopted  by  the  various 
denominations,  so  that  soon  after  the  middle  of 
the  twentieth  centuiy  denominationalism  had 
almost  disappeared  from  the  Western  World, 
and  in  the  Eastern  World  the  work  was  mak- 
ing good  progress  in  the  same  direction.  As 
denominationalism  died  out,  doctrinal  sermons 
were  much  less  frequent,  and  brotherly  love 
much  more  abounded.  As  character  was  the 
test  for  church-membership,  the  influence  of  the 
church  was  almost  wholly  directed  towards 
character-building,  and  soon  became  immensely 
powerful  in  its  ability  to  correct  and  direct  the 
lives  of  men.  Christian  parents  began  to  recog- 
nize the  fact  that,  if  they  would  save  their 
children,  they  must  begin  the  work  of  salvation 
with  the  beginning  of  life.  The  habits  of  chil- 
F  11 


122  A   DREAM  OF 

dren  were  watched  with  the  greatest  solicitude. 
To  neglect  childhood  was  an  oifence  against 
Christianity,  and  subjected  parents  to  censure 
and  church  discii^line;  consequently  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  children  embraced  spiritual 
life  and  became  church-members  than  under  the 
old  creed  arrangement.  In  fact,  within  two  or 
three  generations  after  the  adoption  of  the  new 
plan,  almost  all  the  children  of  Christian 
parents  became  Christian.  The  missionaries 
carried  the  heathen  a  new  gospel,  the  real  gos- 
pel of  Christ,  as  proclaimed  by  him  when  in 
the  flesh, — love  to  God  as  Father  and  love  to 
man  as  brother.  This  gospel  was  gladly  re- 
ceived all  over  the  planet.  There  was  no  waste 
of  either  time  or  money  by  different  denomi- 
nations contending  for  precedence  in  the  same 
missionary  field. 

The  plea  for  a  Christian  character  and  a  pure 
life  was  a  plea  that  met  no  opposition.  It  left 
room  for  no  infidelity  and  no  heresy.  There 
was  no  ground  on  which  to  stand  to  oppose  the 
work  of  the  church ;  so  Christianity  abounded 
everywhere.  The  publications  of  that  period 
show  that  by  the  close  of  the  twentieth  century 
the  public  mind  was  largely  cast  in  the  Chris- 
tian mould.  Men  were  esteemed  and  took  social 
position  according  to  their  real  worth,  regardless 
of  the  amount  of  their  possessions. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  123 

To  strengthen  the  motive,  to  cultivate  per- 
sonal integrity,  and  to  cancel  to  some  extent  the 
great  advantage  given  to  wealth,  the  various 
governments  began  to  repeal  all  laws  for  the 
collection  of  debts,  so  that  by  the  middle  of  the 
last  half  of  the  twentieth  century  no  such  laws 
were  left  among  their  States.  This  made  per- 
sonal integrity  a  man's  stock  in  trade.  When  a 
man  wanted  credit,  no  inquiries  w^ere  made  as 
to  the  amount  of  his  wealth.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  inquiries  were.  Is  he  honest  ?  Is  he 
honorable  ?  Does  he  do  exactly  as  he  agrees  ? 
This  stimulated  parents  to  a  watchful  guardian- 
ship of  the  character  and  habits  of  their  chil- 
dren. It  greatly  aided  the  church  in  its  office 
of  character-building.  Truthfulness  and  relia- 
bility were  placed  at  a  high  premium,  while,  in 
the  same  ratio,  deception,  falsehood,  and  trick- 
ery were  rendered  more  odious  and  disgraceful. 
Wealth  began  rapidly  to  lose  its  charm.  Its 
great  power  was  gone.  The  sense  of  justice  was 
becoming  comparatively  strong,  and  the  habit  of 
rendering  an  equivalent  for  what  one  obtained 
was  pervading  all  departments  of  society. 

The  cultivation  of  habits  of  temperance, 
frugality,  and  industry  among  the  poor  and 
laboring  people  was  rapidly  driving  poverty 
from  the  face  of  Mars.  Labor  became  respect- 
able, while  idleness  and  indolence,  whether  in 


124  ^    DREAM  OF 

rich  or  poor,  male  or  female,  was  rapidly  be- 
coming disreputable.  The  discontent  and  the 
danger  arising  from  it,  which  had  formerly  so 
threatened  the  very  existence  of  society  and 
good  government,  had  nearly  disappeared,  and 
almost  all  were  contented  and  happy.  Labor 
obtained  its  equitable  share  of  profits,  and 
thereby  friendly  relations  were  established  be- 
tween labor  and  capital.  Capitalists  and  labor- 
ers discovered  that  their  necessary  relations  to 
each  other  were  such  that  mutual  good  feeling 
between  them  was  essential  to  the  success  and 
happiness  of  either.  Neither  could  suffer  with- 
out the  suffering  being  shared  by  both.  As  soon 
as  capital  became  unjust,  labor  became  disloyal, 
and  disloyal  labor  could  never  profit  the  em- 
ployer. It  was  only  when  each  worked  for  the 
interest  of  the  other  that  both  flourished. 

As  money  began  to  lose  its  power  to  secure 
social  position  to  its  possessor,  it  began  to  lose 
its  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  men.  AVheu  integ- 
rity and  intelligence  gave  better  position  and 
more  power  to  their  possessor  than  money 
did,  money  slu'ank  in  value  in  the  eyes  of 
men,  and  integrity  and  intelligence  became  of 
greatly  increased  importance.  AVcalth  was  not 
within  the  reach  of  all,  so  while  wealth  was 
the  desideratum  of  life  many  were  of  necessity 
poor ;  but  integrity  and  intelligence  were  within 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  125 

the  grasp  of  all.  They  differed  from  wealth, 
also,  in  that  they  could  not  be  monopolized. 
However  much  of  them  any  one  took,  the  sui> 
ply  was  not  diminished,  and  all  might  drink 
long  and  deep  at  their  wells. 

The  schools  rapidly  took  high  ground  as  char- 
acter-educators. They  recognized  the  wide  dif- 
ference between  building  and  growing.  Build- 
ing is  adding  to  the  outside,  while  growth  is 
from  within.  The  old  method  of  making 
character  was  the  building  process.  The  out- 
side was  somewhat  reshaped ;  it  was  smoothed 
off  and  polished,  so  as  to  look  pleasing  to  the 
world.  It  was  filled  up  a  little  here,  and  rasped 
down  a  little  there,  so  as  to  conform  to  the  con- 
ventionalities of  society,  but  all  inside  the  sur- 
face was  neo;lected.  Sometimes  this  neo;lect  was 
from  gross  indifference,  sometimes  because  of 
ignorance,  and  often  because  of  the  prevalent 
doctrine  of  natural  depravity,  which  led  even 
good  people  to  the  conclusion  that  nothing 
radical  could  be  accomplished  in  the  way  of 
improving  a  child's  character  until  it  reached 
years  of  discretion,  when  "  conversion"  might 
be  hoped  for. 

But  when  the  laws  of  heredity  came  to  be 
understood,  the  old  doctrine  of  natural  deprav- 
ity gave  way  to  a  more  reasonable  explanation 
of  the  evil  tendencies  of  children,  and  then  a 
11* 


126  A   DREAM  OF 

more  rational  method  of  training  childhood 
commenced.  Instead  of  merely  polishing  the 
exterior,  to  conform  to  the  demands  of  polished 
society,  the  new  method  sought  to  develop  the 
right  kind  of  feelings  and  motives  and  senti- 
ments and  dispositions,  leaving  the  outside  to 
conform  itself  to  these  qualities.  This  was 
making  character  by  growth,  and,  after  a  few 
generations  of  training,  it  became  a  natural 
growth.  The  bad  tendencies  were  suppressed 
at  the  beginning  and  not  allowed  to  become 
controlling.  The  absence  of  foolish  indulgence, 
the  absence  of  all  stimulants  in  both  food  and 
drink,  and  the  entire  discontinuance  of  the  once 
prevalent  habit  of  controlling  children  through 
the  appetites  by  denying  what  the  appetite 
craved  as  punishment,  and  satisfying  its  craving 
as  reward,  and  the  early  development  of  self- 
control  and  self-denial  in  children,  had  after  a 
few  generations  produced  almost  a  different  race 
of  beings. 

Before  the  close  of  the  twenty-first  century, 
crime  had  almost  disappeared.  Intoxicating 
liquors  were  no  longer  made  or  sold,  as  there 
was  no  demand  for  them.  Education  by  jmr- 
ents  and  teachers  and  preachers  had  fully  done 
what  the  philanthropists  of  many  generations 
had  failed  to  accomplish  by  legislation  and 
courts.     The  courts  bad  but  little  to  do,  and 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  127 

every  year  their  work  was  becoming  less  and  less. 
Legislative  bodies  also  did  ranch  less.  It  had 
been  well  learned  that  reforms  conld  not  be  snc- 
cessf  ully  worked  through  legislation.  The  time 
had  been  when  any  one  who  got  in  mind  some 
great  good  that  society  needed  would  appeal  to 
the  legislature  and  secure  the  enactment  of  a 
law  to  enforce  his  ideas  upon  others.  The 
most  of  these  laws  then  became  dead  letters 
upon  their  statute-books,  because  of  the  indis- 
position or  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  enforce 
them.  Often  these  reforms  were  desirable,  but 
the  reformers  began  at  the  wrong  place.  They 
attempted  to  build  what  could  be  secured  only 
by  growth.  They  had  not  been  students  of 
evolution.  They  had  failed  to  discover  that 
God's  law  of  evolution  was  development,  that 
it  worked  from  within  outward.  It  is  true, 
however,  that  outside  influences,  surrounding 
circumstances,  environment,  had  much  to  do 
in  evolving  the  desirable  and  suppressing  the 
undesirable.  They  finally  learned  that  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  was  as  applicable  to  the 
dispositions  and  appetites  and  other  traits  of 
character  as  it  was  elsewhere  in  God's  provi- 
dence. 

It  was  only  when  mankind  had  discovered 
and  recognized  these  laws  that  the  progress  of 
true  reforms  was  anything  commensurate  \vith 


128  A    DREAM  OF 

the  efforts  expended.  It  was  only  when  it  was 
discov^crcd  and  understood  that  society  as  a 
whole  can  never  be  much  better  than  the  aver- 
age of  the  individuals  of  which  it  is  composed 
that  attention  was  sharply  turned  to  individuals. 
All  proper  effort  in  this  direction  was  followed 
by  good  effects,  and  finally  culminated  in  better 
and  more  lasting  results  than  had  ever  been 
expected  or  hoped  for  by  legislation  and  judi- 
cature. 

When  in  the  work  of  creation  God  reached 
man  and  gave  him  a  free  will,  a  power  of  free 
choice,  and  an  intellect  capable  of  unlimited 
cultivation,  he  left  him  with  such  equipments 
to  evolve  the  perfection  of  his  race,  to  work 
out  his  own  salvation  in  the  light  of  such 
revelations  as  he  might  make. 

It  was  evidently  not  a  part  of  God's  plan  to 
reveal  in  tangible  form  to  mankind  what  man 
in  his  natural  state  is  capable  of  finding  out  by 
the  proper  development  and  exercise  of  his  own 
faculties.  God  might  have  revealed  to  us  the 
constituent  elements  of  matter,  all  the  formulas 
of  chemistry,  and  thereby  have  put  physical 
nature  far  more  completely  at  the  service  of 
man,  and  thus  added  greatly  to  human  support, 
ease,  comfort,  and  luxury.  He  might  have 
revealed  all  the  laws  and  combinations  of 
mechanics,  and  thus   have  put  it  within  the 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  129 

ability  of  all  men  to  relieve  themselves  from 
excessive  toil  and  drudgery.  He  might  have 
revealed  to  ns  the  constitution  and  elements  of 
our  own  bodies,  their  functions,  and  the  exact 
laws  of  health  and  physical  life,  the  causes  of 
disease,  and  the  true  remedy  for  each  and  every 
physical  ailment.  He  might  have  revealed  to 
us  the  best  form  of  civil  government,  the  true 
science  of  sociology,  and  thus  have  freed  the 
world  from  poverty  and  tyranny  and  all  the 
distress  arising  out  of  bad  government.  A 
thousand  other  things  about  which  man  now 
knows  but  very  little  or  nothing  might  have 
been  brought  to  light,  and  made  subservient  to 
the  use  of  mankind,  by  a  direct  revelation  from 
him  who  knows  all  things.  But,  as  before 
stated,  it  seems  not  to  have  been  a  part  of 
God's  plan  to  reveal  directly  to  man  what  he 
can  learn  by  the  proper  exercise  of  his  natural 
faculties  when  developed  as  they  may  be.  In 
his  wisdom  God  left  labor,  and  want,  and  dis- 
tress, and  starvation,  and  pestilence,  and  in- 
equality, and  tumult,  and  wars,  and  usurpations, 
and  tyranny,  and  the  thousand  other  ills  to 
which  human  nature  was  exposed,  to  goad  us 
on  in  our  efforts  to  learn  what  good  things 
God  has  placed  in  the  natural  world,  and  within 
reach  of  our  natural  faculties.  He  has  estab- 
lished in  the  natural  world  a  svstem  of  natural 


130  A   DREAM  OF 

laws,  within  the  reach  and  scope  of  the  natural 
intellect,  and,  by  a  compensatory  system  of 
natural  rewards  and  punishments,  has  placed 
before  man  to  entice  him,  and  behind  to  goad 
him,  every  inducement  to  study  and  learn. 
This  studying  and  learning  constitute  the  nat- 
ural food  for  the  intellectual  growth  and  devel- 
opment of  the  race.  To  give  all  this  by  direct 
revelation  from  the  source  of  all  knowledge 
Avould  take  away  the  very  ailment  on  w4iich 
intellect  grows,  and  would  leave  mankind  a 
race  of  pygmies,  unable  to  understand  or  ap- 
preciate a  revelation,  while  God  would  have 
them  intellectual  and  moral  giants.  We  may 
reasonably  conclude,  therefore,  that  God  has 
not  revealed  and  will  not  reveal  in  language  or 
life  what  man  can  find  out  by  the  proper  ex- 
ercise of  his  natural  faculties.  We  need  not, 
therefore,  look  in  the  Divine  revelation  nor  in 
the  life  of  Christ  for  the  solution  of  questions 
of  science  or  of  sociology,  nor  for  systems  of 
government,  whether  of  church  or  state,  nor 
for  organizations  for  charity  or  for  commercial 
intercourse  and  relations ;  for  all  these  things 
are  within  the  reach  of  the  human  intellect 
w^ien  properly  applied  and  directed. 

But  the  province  of  the  natural  intellect,  as 
now  evolved,  is  bounded  by  the  natural  world. 
The  natural  intellect  has  no  eye  to  see  beyond 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  I3I 

the  natural  world,  and  no  ear  to  hear  from 
beyond.  It  may  have  a  dreamy  longing  for 
something,  but  it  sees  it  not,  it  hears  it  not,  it 
feels  it  not,  and  it  knows  it  not.  It  may  an- 
alyze and  decompose  and  study  elements.  With 
the  microscope  it  may  go  down  among  the  ulti- 
mate atoms,  but  it  finds  no  beyond  there.  It 
may  study  the  planets  and  stars,  and  with  the 
telescope  may  peer  into  the  immensity  of  space 
and  discover  myriads  of  new  worlds,  but  they 
are  all  substantially  like  our  own,  and  the  be- 
yond is  still  not  found.  It  may,  by  the  natural 
laws  of  the  natural  world,  trace  cause  and  effect 
back  and  back,  even  to  what  it  may  call  the 
great  first  cause,  which  it  may  name  God ;  but 
it  is  a  deaf  and  blind  and  heartless  God,  merely 
an  all-pervading  principle,  controlled  by  neces- 
sity, having  no  volition,  no  personality.  In 
this  great  first  cause  the  natural  intellect  finds 
no  conscious  existence,  no  power  to  think,  or 
feel,  or  love,  or  will,  or  consciously  to  act.  In 
short,  no  amount  of  research  by  the  natural 
intellect,  so  far  as  now  developed,  can  discover 
a  personal  God,  or  learn  anything  of  his  dis- 
position towards  men. 

Again,  no  amount  of  scientific  study,  with 
any  data  now  at  the  command  of  science,  could 
ever  discover  spirit,  spiritual  existence,  spiritual 
life,  nor  the  laws  or  conditions  of  such  life. 


132  A   DREAM  OF 

Science  may  decompose  the  human  body, — it 
may  most  minutely  examine  all  its  tissues,  all 
its  solids  and  liquids,  its  brains  and  nerves,  its 
heart,  its  blood,  its  everything ;  but  it  can  find 
no  spirit,  and  no  trace  of  spirit  having  been 
there.  God  and  spirit  therefore  are,  for  the 
present  at  least,  beyond  the  ken  of  natural 
science. 

The  axioms,  principles,  and  corollaries  of  nat- 
ural science,  as  now  developed,  do  not  form  a 
basis  broad  enough  on  which  to  erect  a  tower  of 
sufficient  height  to  give  us  even  a  glimpse  of 
spirit  or  of  a  personal  God.  This  knowledge 
is  objective ;  it  must  come  from  without, — from 
beyond  the  natural  world. 

Natural  man  has  no  means  of  bridging  the 
abyss  between  the  kingdom  of  nature  and  the 
kingdom  whence  comes  the  knowledge  of  God 
and  spirit.  If  God  would  have  us  possessed 
of  this  knowledge,  he  alone  can  bridge  the  abyss 
and  bring  it  to  us  on  this  side  of  the  awful 
chasm. 

We  must  therefore,  I  think,  conclude  a  reve- 
lation to  be  necessary : 

1.  To  bring  to  us  a  knowledge  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  personal  God. 

2.  To  tell  us  what  is  needful  for  us  to  know 
of  the  character  of  that  personal  God,  and  of 
his  disposition  towards  us. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  133 

3.  To  give  us  a  knowledge  of  the  existence 
of  spiritual  life  outside  of  and  beyond  natural 
life. 

4.  To  bring  to  us  a  knowledge  of  the  fact 
that  man  may  possess  this  spiritual  life,  and  its 
attribute,  immortality. 

5.  To  explain  to  us  how  and  on  what  condi- 
tions man  may  become  possessed  of  spiritual  life, 
and  become  heir  to  immortality. 

If  God  reveals  to  us  things  not  discoverable 
by  the  exercise  of  our  natural  faculties,  he  does 
it  as  an  act  of  mercy  for  our  benefit.  To  be 
beneficial,  it  must  find  a  lodgement  in  our  un- 
derstanding or  in  our  conscious  sensibilities,  or 
in  both.  It  must  be  brought  within  our  com- 
prehension, or  to  us  it  is  not  a  revelation.  An 
alleged  revelation  of  something  contradictory  to 
our  reason,  or  to  our  innate  sense  of  justice  and 
right,  is  not  a  revelation  to  our  intellects  or 
sensibilities,  and  consequently  is  to  us  no  reve- 
lation. God  in  his  infinity  is  beyond  the  scope 
of  our  comprehension.  But  God's  personality, 
his  feelings  and  designs  towards  us,  and  our 
relations  to  him,  may  be  brought  within  our 
comprehension,  and  this  is  about  all  that  we 
need  know  from  the  beyond,  and  this  much  we 

may  expect  if  we  have  a  right  to  expect  auy- 
thinsr. 


134  ^  DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Although  most  of  the  preceding  chapter  i 
not  quoted,  yet  it  expresses  a  fair  consensus  of 
the  best  literature  on  the  subjects  treated,  at  a 
date  a  little  after  the  middle  of  the  twentieth 
century.  The  best  authors  sought  to  impress 
the  public  mind,  and  especially  parents  and 
teachers  and  Christian  ministers,  with  the  im- 
portance of  clearly  understanding  what  man 
must  do  for  himself,  and  what  God  may  be  ex- 
pected to  do  for  him.  The  greatest  importance 
was  then  attached  to  the  education  of  the  chil- 
dren, and  such  has  been  the  case  ever  since  on 
Mars. 

This  great  reform  work  commenced  in  the 
Western  World,  but  it  rapidly  spread  over  all 
parts  of  the  planet. 

Creeds  largely  disappeared,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  personal  character  was  recognized  as 
the  great  work  of  the  Christian  church.  What- 
ever pertained  to  this  great  work  commanded 
the  attention  of  all. 

The  masses  of  people  had  begun  to  believe 
there  was  more  for  them  in  their  then  present 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  I35 

life  tiian  they  had  ever  been  able  to  grasp,  and 
they  eagerly  sought  a  clearer  understanding  of 
the  conditions  necessary  to  the  full  enjoyment 
of  that  better  and  more  complete  life. 

We  must  have  an  appetite  for  food  if  we 
would  properly  digest  it  and  have  its  elements 
assimilated  and  converted  into  blood,  flesh,  and 
bones.  So  a  boy  must  have  an  appetite  for 
knowledge  if  his  studies  are  to  be  assimilated 
and  enter  into  the  composition  and  gro\\i;h  of 
his  mind.  In  the  same  way,  it  was  only  when 
the  people  of  Mars  began  to  hunger  and  thirst 
for  the  better  life  that  they  began  to  grapple 
with  its  problems  in  such  a  way  as  to  insure 
their  solution  and  contribute  to  the  healthful 
growth  of  society. 

As  intelligence  in  this  direction  increased,  a 
certain  kind  of  selfishness  seems  to  have  rapidly 
decreased.  Parents  who  before  had  sacrificed 
their  children  upon  the  altars  of  indolence  and 
fashion  and  luxury,  who,  to  promote  their  own 
selfish  ends,  had  been  in  the  habit  of  turnino; 
their  little  ones  over  to  ignorant  and  often  cor- 
rupt nurs&s  and  governesses,  now  began  to  un- 
derstand and  appreciate  that  "  as  the  twig  is 
bent  the  tree  is  inclined,"  that  if  the  best  and 
most  was  to  be  obtained  from  life  the  prepara- 
tion for  its  duties  and  enjoyments  must  begin 
where  and  when  life  begins. 


136  A  DREAM  OF 

Their  attention,  very  early  in  this  awakening, 
was  of  coui'se  turned  to  their  public  and  other 
schools.  When  so  turned,  it  was  discovered 
that  God  had  been  turned  out  of  nearly  all 
these  schools.  Infidelity  and  sectarianism  had 
run  so  high  as  to  excite  the  jealous  fears  that 
one  branch  of  the  church  would  get  the  ad- 
vantage of  another  in  its  influence  over  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  children,  and  thus  bias 
them  in  their  opinions.  This  discussion,  aided 
by  those  opposed  to  all  religions,  had  resulted 
in  dismissing  the  Bible  from  the  public  schools, 
and  with  it  all  semblance  of  Christian  worship. 
All  religious  matter  was  excluded  from  the 
school-books,  and  even  the  name  of  God  was 
not  permitted  to  appear  in  any  such  connection 
as  would  suggest  any  accountability  to  him.  In 
short,  the  public  schools  of  Mars  were  godless, 
and  were  sending  forth  swarms  of  children 
hardened  in  profanity,  deceit,  falsehood,  and 
worse  vices.  Yet  it  was  to  these  schools  that 
parents  had  been  invited  to  look  for  co-opera- 
tion in  the  great  work  of  developing  proper 
character  in  their  children. 

The  schools  seemed  to  have  no  regard  or  care 
for  any  part  of  the  child  except  its  intellect, 
and  even  this  was  improperly  cared  for.  The 
public  schools,  especially  in  the  Western  World, 
where  political  equality  prevailed,  became  very 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  J  37 

popular,  and  substantially  supplanted  all  other 
schools  for  primary  instruction.  This  made 
the  number  of  children  attending  these  schools 
so  large  as  to  require  the  raising  by  taxation  of 
large  sums  of  money  to  defray  the  expense  of 
building  school-houses,  paying  teachers,  etc. 
To  restrict  this  expense  to  as  small  an  amount 
as  possible,  the  schools  were  graded  and  classi- 
fied, placing  under  one  teacher  a  large  number 
of  pupils  whose  attainments  were  of  a  similar 
grade.  These  children  were  taught  only  in 
classes,  and  class  recitations  occupied  all  the 
school-hours.  This  system  had  its  errors,  and 
very  great  errors,  far-reaching  in  their  evil  in- 
fluence, often  entirely  thwarting  the  object  of 
the  schools.  The  design  was  intellectual  de- 
velopment and  culture,  while  often  the  result 
was  to  convert  a  bright,  smart,  intellectual  child 
into  a  stupid,  thoughtless  dolt,  and  that  too 
by  the  natural,  normal  working  of  the  system. 
The  text-books  had  so  systematized  the  matters 
of  which  they  treated  as  to  present  the  subjects 
in  natural  order,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
require  the  mastery  and  understanding  of  each 
step  in  the  order  presented,  before  being  able  to 
comprehend  the  next.  Children  ignorant  or 
thoughtless  of  what  was  before  them  could  not 
appreciate  the  importance  of  fully  understand- 
ing these  separate  steps,  each  of  which  was  an 
12* 


138  A  DREAM  OF 

important  factor  in  what  was  to  follow.  The 
class  was  alwavs  movino;  on,  regardless  of  those 
detained  from  school  from  sickness  or  other 
causes,  regardless  also  of  careless,  indolent,  or 
indifferent  pupils;  and  all  these,  having  failed 
to  master  the  successive  steps,  could  not  under- 
stand the  lessons  beino;  taug-ht.  AVheu  a  child 
was  unable  to  understand  his  lesson,  he  would 
always  try  to  prepare  for  recitations  by  memo- 
rizing processes,  definitions,  etc.,  but  in  a  short 
time  memory  failed  to  serve  a  student  suffi- 
ciently to  enable  him  to  make  creditable  recita- 
tions. He  then  fell  behind  and  became  dis- 
couraged. The  system  made  no  provision  for 
him.  There  was  no  opportunity  for  him  to 
have  any  individual  instruction,  to  bridge  him 
over  his  troubles. 

In  a  class  of  thirty  or  more  pupils,  grading 
the  same  at  the  beginning  of  a  term,  one  would 
be  very  bright  and  intellectual,  capable  of  doing 
all  and  much  more  than  required ;  another, 
naturally  dull  and  stupid,  was  incapable  of 
doing  half  what  was  expected  of  the  class. 
The  balance  of  the  class  would  range  at  various 
points  between  these  two.  The  extent  of  the 
lessons  was  determined  by  the  average  capabili- 
ties of  the  class.  The  class  system  compelled 
holding  back  the  more  brilliant,  and  dragging 
along  too  rapidly  the  duller  of  even  the  ma- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  139 

jority,  while  the  foot  of  the  class  was  soon 
dropped  back  to  a  lower  grade  or  out  of  the 
school.  The  wings  of  real  genius  Avere  con- 
stantly being  clipped,  while  wings  were  at- 
tempted to  be  forced  upon  those  not  sufficiently 
developed  to  begin  to  fly.  At  best,  the  class 
instruction  could  only  keep  its  eye  on  the  mid- 
dle of  the  class,  holding  back  the  head,  and 
whipping  up  or  dropping  off  the  rear.  Society 
could  not  aiford  to  lose  the  real  geniuses  of  its 
rising  generation,  nor  could  it  afford  to  lose 
the  intellectual  culture  and  training  of  those  less 
brilliant  than  the  medium.  In  other  words, 
society  could  not  afford  to  support  schools  to  es- 
tablish by  education  a  mediocrity,  by  cutting  off 
those  too  long  and  stretching  out  those  too  short. 

Another  evil  of  the  class  system  was  one  not 
easy  to  avoid.  Children  would  soon  form  the 
habit  of  looking  upon  the  recitation  and  ex- 
amination as  the  sole  end  and  aim  of  study. 
They  did  not  study  so  much  to  know,  as  they 
did  to  recite  creditably.  This  led  to  a  habit 
of  cramming  and  forcing,  which  was  morally 
hurtful,  and  not  conducive  to  proper  intellect- 
ual culture.  The  exclusively  class  system  was 
a  failure,  and  it  became  a  serious  question 
whether  it  was  not  doing  more  harm  than  good. 

Another  evil  of  the  schools  had  been  the 
effort  to  teach  too  much.     The  people  at  one 


140  ^  DREAM  OF 

time  seem  to  have  thought  that  chiklren  must 
learn  iu  tlie  schools  all  tlicy  would  need  to  know 
in  after-life.  Often  children  were  required  to 
carry  along  five  or  six  studies  at  the  same  time. 
They  attempted  so  much  that  few  could  be 
thorough  in  anything.  This  practice  of  learn- 
ing a  little  about  a  great  many  things  was  at 
one  time  very  fashionable.  A  little  of  the  no- 
menclature of  the  science  would  often  enable 
one  to  talk  about  it,  and  to  make  a  show  of 
knowledge  which  he  did  not  possess.  Such 
pei*sons  often  had  indistinct  ideas  about  many 
things,  but  really  knew  nothing.  The  mind  was 
found  incapable  of  taking  a  large  number  of 
studies  at  the  same  time  and  really  mastering 
any  of  them.  They  found  that  two  studies, 
thoroughly  mastered  and  understood,  did  much 
more  to  properly  develop  and  cultivate  the  in- 
tellect than  many  studies  only  partially  under- 
stood. The  habit  of  being  contented  with  only 
a  smattering  was  belittling  and  demoralizing  to 
the  intellect  and  the  character. 

They  discovered  another  defect  in  their  edu- 
cational system.  The  benefits  of  their  school 
instruction  were  limited  to  childhood  and  youth. 
This  limitation  caused  the  effort  to  force  upon 
pupils  more  knowledge  of  science  than  they 
could  possibly  comprehend,  and  so  occupied 
their  time  and  energies  as  to  leave  them   no 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  141 

oppoi-tunity  or  inclination  to  learn  any  indus- 
trial pursuits, — no  opportunity  to  discover  and 
cultivate  in  themselves  any  adaptiveness  for  any 
special  business  or  calling.  Many  were  grad- 
uated from  these  schools  as  they  arrived  at 
the  age  of  manhood  and  womauhood  with  no 
knowledge  whatever  that  fitted  them  for  self- 
support,  and  generally  with  a  distaste  for  such 
knowledge.  They  were  not  educated  for  the 
duties  of  life, — but,  on  the  contrary,  their  edu- 
cation destroyed  their  taste  for  such  duties. 

The  people  of  Mars  finally  gained  a  better 
idea  of  education  and  of  the  proper  use  to  make 
of  the  schools.  The  child  was  possessed  of 
certain  natural  intellectual  faculties.  It  was 
the  office  of  the  school  to  train  the  child  to  the 
proper  control  of  these  faculties.  Studentship 
came  to  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  apprentice- 
ship, and  the  school-room  the  workshop  where 
the  child  was  to  learn  how  to  use  his  mind, — 
how  to  control  and  direct  it  in  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge  and  the  solution  of  subtle  prob- 
lems, not  of  science  only,  but  of  society  and 
life.  Accuracy  and  thoroughness  were  essential 
in  every  step  of  such  apprenticeship,  if  one  was 
to  become  an  accepted  workman.  They  learned 
that  accurate  thinking  begat  an  appetite  for 
learning, — that  when  one  had  the  intellectual 
ability  to  investigate  and  understand  the  propo- 


142  ^   DREAM  OF 

sitions  of  science,  religion,  civil  polity,  sociology, 
etc.,  and  to  solve  the  problems  arising  therein, 
such  ability  always  begat  an  insatiable  desire 
for  knowledge  of  facts  and  data  on  which  to  act, 
and  its  possessor  was  certain  to  become  learned. 

The  schools  and  colleges  then  began  to  as- 
sume their  true  place  in  social  economy.  They 
began  to  understand  that  their  office  was  to 
make  the  mind,  not  merely  to  disseminate 
intelligence  farther  than  they  could  use  the  in- 
telligence as  an  instrument  in  mind-making. 
When  they  reached  this  point,  and  began  to 
regard  the  work  of  the  school  as  done  when  the 
student  had  learned  to  control  and  direct  his 
own  faculties  and  had  obtained  an  appetite  for 
learning,  they  reached  the  acme  of  their  useful- 
ness. They  discovered  that  when  a  student 
had  found  and  been  put  fully  in  possession  of 
himself,  the  schools  had  done  their  full  duty  to 
him.  The  balance  of  the  work  of  becoming 
learned  he  could  do  for  himself  better  than  the 
schools  could  do  it  for  him. 

When  men  had  thus  learned  how  to  control 
and  direct  their  own  faculties,  and  possessed  a 
healthy  taste  for  learning,  then  better  methods 
of  thinking  and  investigation  came  into  com- 
mon  use,  and  men  became  more  logical  aud 
philosophical.  Under  such  education  pedantry 
could  find  no  place  to  stand.     Pretence  and 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  I43 

show  became  transparent  and  shrank  ont  of 
sight,  and  thoughfuluess  and  thoroughness  be- 
came almost  uuiv^ersal,  and  pervaded  all  the 
walks  and  occupations  of  life. 

In  this  way  the  school  greatly  contributed  to 
the  wonderful  civilization  now  existing  on  Mars. 
By  many  generations  of  such  teaching,  the  in- 
tellectual faculties  have  become  more  orderly 
and  more  under  self-control.  Children  there 
now  possess  by  heredity  such  control  of  their 
faculties  as  formerly  required  a  full  college 
course  to  attain. 

The  power  of  attention  now  possessed  by  the 
people  of  Mars  is  something  astonishing.  They 
seem  to  possess  the  ability  to  direct  the  mind 
to  the  investigation  of  a  subject,  and  abso- 
lutely to  dismiss  from  it,  for  the  time  being, 
everything  else.  The  attention  seems  to  be 
completely  under  control  of  the  will.  Conse- 
quently, all  seem  to  be  capable  of  solving  for 
themselves  almost  any  question  that  comes  up 
before  them.  Even  with  us,  we  know  that  the 
diiference  in  the  intellectual  power  of  different 
minds  consists  very  largely  in  the  difference  in 
power  to  control  the  attention.  One  can  hold 
his  mind  steadily  and  continuously  on  a  sub- 
ject, while  another  cannot.  Almost  any  mind 
is  powerful  when  concentrated  and  held  upon 
one  thing.     If  a  powerful  sun-glass  is  focussed 


144  A  DREAM  OF 

on  almost  any  object  and  held  there,  the  object 
must  dissolve  before  it ;  but  if  the  glass  is  con- 
stantly moving,  so  that  the  focus  is  constantly 
changed,  the  object  \vill  scarcely  be  warmed. 
So  with  the  mind :  if  it  can  be  focussed  on  a 
problem  and  held  there,  few  problems  can  long 
resist  solution ;  but,  if  the  mental  focus  is  al- 
lowed to  vibrate  about  the  question,  it  will  long 
remain  unanswered.  Mental  conclusions  are 
rarely  satisfactory  unless  they  are  the  result  of 
concentrated  thought. 

As  denominationalism  began  to  disappear, 
the  school-room  doors  began  to  open  to  religious 
influence,  and  God  began  to  be  recognized  in  the 
schools  as  the  source  of  authority  and  good  gov- 
ernment. God  and  Christian  literature  came 
back  into  the  school-books,  and  a  better  moral 
tone  and  influence  came  from  the  school-rooms. 

In  time  people  tired  of  exclusive  class  in- 
struction in  gi-aded  schools.  While  class  in- 
struction was  continued,  much  as  before,  yet 
every  school-room  was  provided  with  an  ad- 
ditional teacher,  whose  sole  duty  was  to  give 
individual  instruction.  The  very  best  teachers 
were  employed  in  these  positions.  If  a  pupil 
was  falling  behind  his  class,  losing  his  interest, 
or,  in  the  exjjressive  language  of  slang,  "  losing 
his  grip,"  his  teacher  would  invite  him  into  a 
room  separate  for  that  purpose,  and  by  skilful 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  145 

questioning  and  examination  would  discover 
the  real  cause  of  trouble,  and  would  generally 
find  it  to  be  a  failure  to  understand  some  pre- 
vious link  or  step  in  the  subject  of  study.  But, 
whatever  the  cause,  the  individual  teacher  would 
be  almost  certain  to  discover  it,  and  then  render 
such  aid  as  would  supply  the  lost  links  and 
reinstate  the  pupil  in  his  own  confidence  and 
to  his  place  in  the  class. 

If  the  more  brilliant  pupil  of  the  class  was 
being  discouraged  or  injured  by  being  held  back 
by  the  slow  progress  of  the  class,  the  individual 
teacher  would  aid  him  in  bridging  the  distance 
between  him  and  the  next  higher  class,  when 
he  would  be  transferred  and  given  adequate 
opportunity  for  the  full  use  of  his  faculties. 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  none  but 
the  most  skilful  teachers  could  fill  these  places. 
None  other  would  be  likely  to  find  the  true 
cause  of  trouble  with  pupils,  and,  having  found 
it,  none  other  would  be  able  to  remove  it. 

They  also  discovered  that  there  was  no  good 
reason  for  limiting  the  benefits  of  school  in- 
struction to  childhood  and  youth.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  came  to  be  well  understood  that  less 
study  and  more  manual  labor  should  be  urged 
upon  youth,  and  less  manual  labor  and  more 
study  upon  manhood.  The  intellectual  faculties 
of  the  people  of  Mars  do  not  decay  in  old  age, 
G       A-  13 


146  A    DREAM  OF 

but  grow  stronger  and  clearer  up  to  death. 
The  reason  for  this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  all 
are  students  during  their  whole  lives,  and  most 
of  them  receive  school  instruction.  The  hours 
of  instruction  are  so  arranged  that  people  may 
attend  them  with  very  little  interference  wnth 
hours  of  labor  and  business,  and  when  any  one 
thinks  that  he  has  mastered  any  one  subject  in 
the  arts  or  sciences,  he  may  be  examined  and 
take  a  certificate  or  diploma  indicating  his  pro- 
ficiency ;  and  thus  much  valuable  time  is  spent 
in  study  that  was  formerly  spent  in  idleness, 
gossiping  clubs,  saloons,  gambling-halls,  and  so 
forth. 

Thus  improved  the  schools  became  and  still 
are  great  aids  in  the  march  of  mankind  towards 
a  perfect  manhood. 

Their  books  indicate  that,  about  the  middle 
of  the  twentieth  century,  their  more  advanced 
thinkers  in  the  field  of  educational  thought  and 
training  hit  upon  another  important  idea. 
Mankind  there,  as  here,  are  imitative  beings. 
They  always  build  after  models,  real  or  ideal, 
— perhaps  always  ideal.  A  landscape-painter 
attempts  to  copy  a  real  landscape,  but  really 
copies  his  ideal  of  it.  So  an  artisan,  when 
building  a  house  or  machine,  first  builds  it  in 
his  mind.  If  his  mental  conception,  his  ideal, 
is  imperfect,  his  work  must  be  imperfect  when 


A    MODEST  PROPHET.  I47 

finished.  So  in  character  and  life :  if  a  child 
has  a  false  conception  of  true  character,  true  life, 
it  cannot  be  expected  that  he  will  have  a  well- 
proportioned  and  well-rounded  character,  nor 
the  most  useful  and  happy  life.  No  one  will 
build  better  than  his  ideal. 

Parents  and  teachers  on  Mars  lay  great  stress 
on  this  matter.  No  feature  of  a  child's  educa- 
tion is  dwelt  upon  with  more  care  and  perse- 
verance. Every  possible  effort  is  made  to  aid 
children  in  getting  perfect  ideals.  The  imagina- 
tion, the  ideal-forming  faculty,  or  the  inventive 
faculty,  is  most  carefully  and  systematically  cul- 
tured. They  have  found  that,  if  this  faculty  is 
early  and  persistently  trained  and  brought  under 
the  control  of  the  will,  impure  and  corrupting 
as  well  as  imperfect  ideals  may  be  excluded  from 
the  mind.  They  hold  that  in  determining  the 
destiny  of  a  person  no  faculty  of  the  mind  has 
more  to  do  than  the  imagination.  They  have  but 
little  hope  for  a  person  who  has  not  been  trained 
to  hold  the  imagination  under  control  of  the  will. 

The  success  of  this  kind  of  care  and  educa- 
tion for  many  ages  past  is  now  seen  in  the  per- 
fection of  all  their  work,  and  in  the  beautiful 
and  pure  characters  met  everywhere  and  in 
almost  every  person. 

Another  subject  which  I'eceived  much  atten- 
tion in    the  education    of   children    was   their 


148  -^    DREAM  OF 

emotional  natures.  Early  in  the  educational 
reforms,  after  the  abolition  of  sectarianism, 
tliinkino;  men  came  to  see  the  dano-ers  and  evils 
of  uneducated  and  untrained  emotions.  A  sys- 
tematic effort  was  made  by  parents  and  teachers 
(principally  ])y  parents)  so  to  discipline  the 
emotional  faculties  as  to  bring  them  under  con- 
trol of  the  will,  and,  after  several  generations 
of  persistent  training  and  education  in  that 
direction,  success  crowned  their  efforts.  Un- 
controlled emotions  were  regarded  as  hurtful  to 
the  health  of  the  body  and  mind,  as  well  as  of 
the  moral  and  spiritual  natures.  Emotional 
excesses,  even  of  joy,  were  injurious  in  their 
direct,  and  still  more  so  in  their  reactionary, 
effects.  When  uncontrolled,  they  made  all  the 
actions  of  the  mind  uncertain  and  unreliable. 
They  saw  that  uncontrolled  emotions  controlled 
the  will,  and  that  a  mind  controlled  and  driven 
by  the  emotions  had  a  crazy  guide,  more  unsta- 
ble than  the  wind.  They  also  saw  that  the 
emotions,  when  disciplined  and  under  control  of 
the  will,  warmed  everything  they  touched,  and 
added  zeal  and  earnestness  and  sincerity  to  all 
that  one  thought  or  did.  To  this  absolute  sub- 
jection of  the  emotions  to  a  well-trained  will 
is  largely  due  the  evenness  of  temper  and  the 
entire  self-control  of  the  people  of  Mars.  They 
are  never  excitable,  yet  never  stoical. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  ]49 

The  educationists  also  made  a  thorough  study 
of  the  will,  to  learu  how  to  subject  it  to  coutrol. 
The  will,  being  the  executive  of  the  mind,  needs 
itself  to  be  trained  and  disciplined  and  educated 
for  its  work. 

I  was  much  interested  to  know  how  the  peo- 
ple of  Mars  educated  the  Avill, — to  know  how 
they  succeeded  in  securing  such  habits  of  per- 
sistent perseverance  in  whatever  was  undertaken, 
such  absolute  control  of  all  their  appetites  and 
passions,  and  yet  with  so  little  conflict,  so  little 
interference  with  their  pleasant  relations  in  their 
social  and  personal  intercourse  with  each  other, 
and  be  so  ready  to  compromise  any  and  all  real 
differences.  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  reo;ard- 
ing  j)ersons  of  strong  will-power  as  too  dicta- 
torial and  domineering  to  be  agreeable, — too 
prone  to  be  officious,  to  be  insinuating  their 
advice  or  direction  where  it  was  not  sought  or 
wanted.  But  on  JNIars  persons  of  the  greatest 
amount  of  determination,  of  apparently  the 
most  indomitable  wills,  would  always  listen  to 
reason  with  a  seeming  entire  willingness  and 
desire  that  the  better  judgment  should  rule. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  disposition  to  force  the 
will  of  one  upon  another.  They  would  seek 
to  convince  the  judgment  of  each  other  by  all 
proper  and  legitimate  arguments,  and  they 
would  argue  and  listen  with  the  sole  desire  of 
13' 


150  A   DREAM  OF 

learning  the  exact  truth.  But  each  was  left 
entirely  free,  with  no  ill  will  or  displeasure,  to 
form  his  own  judgment  and  act  in  accordance 
therewith. 

Freedom  of  thought  and  action — hence  free- 
dom of  the  will — was  as  nearly  absolute  as  pos- 
sible in  organized  society, — free  to  think  and 
act  just  as  one  pleased,  so  long  as  such  think- 
ing; and  acting;  did  not  violate  the  like  right 
of  others. 

I  was  soon  satisfied  that  wills  so  docile  and 
orderly,  and  at  the  same  time  so  positive  and 
determined,  did  not  come  from  mere  chance  and 
good  luck,  but  must  be  the  result  of  design 
and  plan.  I  therefore  examined  their  educa- 
tional publications  in  search  for  their  theory  of 
will-education.  These  books  are  published  for 
parents  and  nurses  and  governesses  as  well  as 
teachers,  and  several  such  volumes  were  found 
in  every  family  library.  Every  such  work  has 
a  chapter  on  the  education  of  the  will,  and  there 
seems  to  be  no  radical  diiference  between  the 
methods  presented  by  the  diiferent  authors. 
One  work  seemed  to  be  more  popular  than  the 
others,  as  in  all  the  libraries  it  bore  evidence  of 
being  most  consulted.  From  this  work  I  make 
the  following  extract : 

"  The  will  differs  from  the  other  faculties  of 
the  mind  in  that  it  cannot  be  much  educated 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  151 

by  the  study  of  science,  history,  language,  etc. 
JNIany  have  regarded  the  will  as  a  function  of 
the  various  mental  faculties,  rather  than  as 
itself  a  faculty,  and  there  is  much  reason  for 
this  opinion.  It  is  not  important,  howev^er,  to 
discuss  this  question  now,  as  for  our  present 
purpose  it  matters  not  whether  the  will  is  a 
mental  faculty  or  whether  it  is  a  function  of 
all  the  faculties. 

"  The  word  '  education,'  in  its  ordinary  sig- 
nification, is  hardly  applicable  to  the  schooling 
of  the  will.  The  words  '  train,'  '  discipline,' 
etc.,  are  the  better  words  to  use.  A  child's 
will  may  be  trained  to  act  in  the  light  of  judg- 
ment and  conscience,  rather  than  by  impulse 
derived  from  the  emotional  nature.  Or,  if  the 
impulse  comes  from  the  emotional  nature,  the 
will  may  be  trained  to  refuse  to  put  the  impulse 
into  action  until  approved  by  judgment  and 
conscience.  What  is  secured  by  training,  to  be 
worked  into  the  character,  must  be  made  a  habit. 
If  we  would  have  the  child  grow  up  in  posses- 
sion of  a  strong,  determined  will,  and  yet  one 
not  oifensive  to  others  or  difficult  for  others  to 
associate  and  work  with,  it  involves  so  many 
of  the  mental  faculties  and  so  much  of  the 
habits  of  these  faculties  that  the  training  must 
begin  when  these  faculties  are  very  young, — in 
fact,  when  they  are  first  budding  into  existence. 


152  ^   DREAM  OF 

The  child  must  form  the  habit  in  childhood  of 
doing  just  what  ought  to  be  done  and  as  it 
oujjht  to  be  done.  Tlie  child  cannot  do  until 
it  wills,  and,  by  careful  guarding,  it  can  be 
guided  to  will  to  do  what  is  right  and  best, 
and  then  be  encouraged  and  directed  in  carrying 
it  to  completion,  without  change  or  hesitation. 
At  first,  of  course,  the  mother  or  the  nurse 
must  supply  both  judgment  and  will  for  the 
child,  yet  the  habit  is  being  formed.  If  the 
mother  is  faithful  and  conscientious,  she  will  be 
careful  that  judgment  and  conscience  are  well 
consulted  in  whatever  she  does  for  the  child, 
and  everything  she  causes  the  child  to  do,  re- 
membering that  every  day  adds  to  the  habits 
of  the  child, — habits  wliich  will  go  far  to  put 
the  will  under  control  of  the  appetites  and 
passions,  or  of  the  judgment  and  conscience. 
]\Iany  children  first  awaken  to  self-conscious- 
ness to  find  their  wills  already  enslaved  to  ap- 
petites and  the  emotions,  to  find  their  passions 
turbulent  and  uncontrolled,  and  disorder  reign- 
ing supreme  through  their  whole  nature. 

"  Up  to  the  time  the  child  awakens  to  con- 
sciousness, the  will  and  judgment  and  conscience 
of  the  parent  must  supply  the  place  of  these 
faculties  in  the  child.  If  they  are  properly 
exercised  by  the  parent,  the  child  comes  to  con- 
sciousness with   its   faculties   developing  and 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  I53 

trained  in  an  orderly  manner,  each  performing 
its  own  functions  in  the  proper  and  best  way 
and  at  the  proper  time. 

"  Formerly  no  systematic  effort  at  education 
and  training  was  attempted  until  after  the 
child  reached  self-consciousness.  Up  to  that 
age  less  care  was  bestowed  upon  the  habits  of 
children  than  upon  puppies  and  kittens.  The 
child  was  either  neglected  or  over-attended, 
indulged  or  denied,  with  no  reference  whatever 
to  the  future  character  of  the  child,  but  sim- 
ply to  comply  with  the  state  of  feelings  or 
whims  for  the  time  being  of  the  mother  or 
nurse.  The  mother  knew  that  if  the  puppy 
was  to  have  good  habits  it  must  never  form 
bad  ones,  but  she  failed  to  recognize  the  fact 
that  the  same  was  true  of  her  children. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  account  for  such  indiffer- 
ence of  parents  as  to  the  earliest  habits  of  their 
children.  Those  who,  by  design  or  good  luck, 
were  fed  as,  and  at  such  times  as,  good  health 
demanded,  those  who  were  neither  rewarded 
nor  punished  through  the  appetite,  those  who 
early,  very  early,  learned  to  submit  to  whole- 
some parental  authority  properly  exercised, 
reached  the  period  of  consciousness  with  well- 
ordered  faculties,  ready  to  begin  responsible  life 
even-handed,  having  the  emotional  nature  sub- 
ordinated to  the  will,  and  the  will  advised  and 


154  A    DREAM  OF 

directed  by  the  judgment  and  understanding 
and  conscience.  Those  children  who  fell  into 
the  hands  of  parents  who  neglected  their  early 
infancy,  pampered  their  appetites,  stuffed  their 
stomachs  to  produce  drowsiness  and  sleep,  then 
allayed  irritability  by  cramming  with  cordials 
and  sedatives,  until  the  appetite  ceased  to  be  an 
index  of  any  natural  or  real  want, — making 
cheerful  submission  to  parental  authority  almost 
an  impossibility,  causing  a  constant  and  irri- 
tating conflict  between  parents  and  child,  leav- 
ing observers  to  wonder  which  was  first  in 
authority, — such  children  reached  the  period  of 
self-consciousness  with  all  their  faculties  dis- 
ordered, the  judgment  and  understanding  and 
conscience  exercising  no  supervision  or  control, 
the  passions  turbulent  and  dictatorial,  the  ap- 
petites strong  and  in  full  control  of  the  will, 
ready  to  begin  responsible  life  loaded  down 
with  a  crushing  weight  of  evil  tendencies,  and 
with  all  the  mental  faculties  enervated  or  strong 
only  for  evil. 

"  The  culture  of  the  will,  therefore,  embraces 
almost  every  other  culture.  Every  faculty  of 
the  mind  must  be  tutored  in  relation  to  the 
will,  or  to  willing,  and  the  habits  of  having 
tlie  will  advised  and  directed  by  the  higher 
mental  faculties  must  be  formed  very  early, 
even  while  these  faculties  in  the  parent   are 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  I55 

acting  for  the  child,  and  before  the  child  is  old 
enougli  to  recognize  and  voluntarily  assert  its 
own  existence.  The  old  idea  that  the  cliild 
must  rule  the  household,  and  be  a  tyrannical 
ruler  at  that,  is  all  wrong.  Before  a  child  is 
old  enough  to  assert,  even  by  action,  its  temper 
and  demands,  it  is  old  enough  to  learn  to  sub- 
mit to  wholesome  authority,  and  must  be  made 
to  do  so  if  it  is  to  become  a  useful  member  of 
organized  society. 

"  The  habits  that  go  to  make  up  the  man  are 
what  constitute  his  character.  Correct  willing, 
industry,  application,  zeal,  persistence,  perse- 
verance, etc.,  are  all  subjects  of  habit.  If  the 
man  is  to  possess  these  sterling  and  necessary 
elements  of  a  successful  life,  the  boy  must  cul- 
tivate them  as  habits,  so  that  they  will  assert 
themselves  without  effort  and  become  command- 
ing and  controlling  in  all  he  docs," 

It  is  clearly  apparent  that  the  people  of  Mars 
long  ago  recognized  the  fact  that  "  the  boy  is 
the  father  of  the  man"  and  "  the  girl  is  the 
mother  of  the  woman  ;"  so  their  great  reforms 
began  with  the  boys  and  girls,  and  have  ever 
since  continued  there. 


156  A  DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER     IX. 

The  ideas  advanced  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ters took  root  first  on  the  "Western  Continent 
of  Mars,  and  grew  most  rapidly  there.  The 
Eastern  Continent  was  divided  up  into  many 
small  governments,  with  no  natural  boundaries. 
Each  one  was  ambitious  to  extend  its  bound- 
aries and  increase  its  relative  strength  by  de- 
creasing the  size  of  its  neighbors.  This  policy, 
which  held  sway  for  more  than  twenty  cen- 
turies, demanded  large  standing  armies,  and 
immense  expenditures  for  fortifications  and  ar- 
mament. These  armies,  even  in  times  of  peace, 
required  the  service  of  every  able-bodied  man 
for  a  considerable  portion  of  his  mature  life. 
Thus  was  the  attention  of  the  governments 
and  the  people  distracted  from  any  plans  or 
efforts  for  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the 
common  people.  The  able-bodied  men  beiug 
in  the  armies,  and  substantially  without  recom- 
pense except  food  and  clothing,  the  support  of 
the  fiimily  at  home  fell  almost  entirely  upon 
the  mothers  aud  daughters.  They  tilled  the 
soil  and  gathered  the  crops,  and  even  worked 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  ]  57 

at  the  forge  and  in  the  machine-shops  and 
other  shops  and  factories.  The  children  were, 
of  necessity,  left  without  mental  or  moral  cul- 
ture, except  what  they  got  at  the  schools  after 
arriving  at  school  age.  That  period  of  the 
child's  life  when  the  best  and  worst  habits  were 
formed  was  almost  entirely  left  to  luck  and 
chance.  After  the  men  had  spent  from  five 
to  eight  years  in  the  armies  in  times  of  peace, 
most  of  the  time  in  the  idleness  of  camp  life, 
they  had  contracted  habits  of  indifference  and 
indolence,  rarely  afterwards  overcome.  Hence 
there  prevailed  such  a  want  of  enterprise  and 
manly  spirit  as  kept  them  content  with  their 
degraded  and  miserable  condition,  and  made 
it  possible  for  the  few  to  absorb  all  the  good 
things  of  life  and  to  rule  the  men  with  rods 
of  iron. 

AVhat  little  inventive  genius  had  developed 
under  these  adverse  circumstances  was  almost 
entirely  directed  to  creating  and  improving 
engines  of  war.  Implements  for  destroying 
property  and  human  life  were  brought  to  great 
perfection.  Explosives  of  tremendous  power 
for  destruction  were  invented.  Towns  and 
cities  could  be  destroyed  from  a  distance  of  ten 
miles  away.  Torpedo-boats  were  constructed 
which  could  be  sent  under  water  a  distance  of 
eight  or  ten  miles,  and  unerringly  plant  the 
14 


158  A  DREAM  OF 

torpedoes  charged  with  such  explosives  under 
the  sides  of  the  largest  vessels,  causing  instant 
destruction  of  vessels  and  crews.  Machine- 
guns  were  invented,  with  which  two  brave  and 
skilful  men  could  hold  a  position  against  a 
charging  column  of  many  thousands. 

These  and  many  other  terrible  engines  of 
destruction  led  the  people  of  ]Mars,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century,  to  consider, 
more  earnestly  than  they  had  ever  done  before, 
the  question  of  settling  international  disputes 
without  wars.  It  was  found  that  it  mattered 
not  how  ingenious  or  efficient  were  the  means 
of  attack,  skilful  means  of  defence  were  im- 
mediately invented  to  meet  them,  so  that  what 
was  the  best  one  year  was  abandoned  as  worth- 
less .the  next.  JS^ew  naval  vessels,  new  fortifi- 
cations and  armaments,  were  constantly  being 
devised  and  constructed,  making  taxation  and 
expenditures  absolutely  crushing,  even  in  the 
richest  nations. 

The  governments  in  the  Western  World  more 
generally  had  natural  boundaries,  and  were 
much  less  ambitious  to  extend  them.  They 
felt  abundantly  able  to  defend  their  soil  against 
foreign  encroachments.  They  possessed  much 
more  inventive  genius  than  the  Eastern  World, 
and  their  artisans  were  more  rapid  in  con- 
structing work  put  into  their  hands ;   conse- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  I59 

quently  they  made  no  serious  attempt  to  keep 
abreast  of  the  Eastern  World  in  implements 
of  war,  preferring  to  trust  to  the  genius 
and  skill  of  their  inventors  and  artisans  to 
provide  means  of  assault  and  defence,  should 
occasion  require.  Hence,  without  fear  of  being 
charged  with  cowardice,  they  could  and  did 
first  propose  measures  for  settling  international 
disputes  without  resort  to  arms.  These  meas- 
ures were  discussed  by  the  people  of  all  the 
civilized  and  semi-civilized  nations  of  the 
planet,  and  generally  with  so  much  favor  as 
to  result,  after  a  few  years,  in  the  calling  of  a 
convention  of  two  commissioners  from  each  and 
every  nation  that  might  desire  to  be  represented 
therein. 

Almost  all  the  civilized  nations  sent  repre- 
sentatives to  this  convocation.  The  convention 
was  in  session  nearly  two  years,  and  finally 
resulted  in  an  agreement  upon  a  kind  of  inter- 
national constitution,  to  be  binding  upon  such 
nations  as  might  subscribe  to  the  same.  This 
constitution  had  many  excellent  provisions. 
Among  them  were  the  following,  in  substance : 

1.  That  an  international  congress  should  be 
organized,  in  which  each  nation  signing  the 
constitution  should  be  entitled  to  two  members, 
the  members  holding  their  positions  subject  to 
the  will  of  the  nations  sending  them,  exQcpt 


160  A   DREAM  OF 

that,  for  unparliamentary  conduct,  or  conduct 
calculated  to  bring  the  congress  into  disrepute, 
any  member  miglit  be  expelled  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  congress ;  and  any  person  once  ex- 
pelled could  never  again  become  a  member,  ex- 
cept by  the  consent  of  the  congress  expressed 
by  a  like  vote. 

2.  That  the  congress  should  be  in  perpetual 
session.  To  make  this  practicable,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  on  all  questions  before  the  congress 
each  nation  should  be  entitled  to  but  one  vote. 
If  its  two  delegates  were  present  and  could  not 
agree,  then  the  vote  should  be  cast  by  the  one 
oldest  in  commission.  To  provide  for  this,  the 
commissions  of  no  two  delegates  from  the  same 
nation  should  bear  the  same  date.  This  ar- 
rangement admitted  of  one-half  the  delegates 
being  absent  without  interrupting  the  proceed- 
ings. So  the  members  could  have  all  necessary 
vacations,  with  no  vacation  in  the  sessions  of 
the  congress. 

3.  That  all  matters  of  international  dispute 
which  could  not  otherwise  be  amicably  settled 
should  be  submitted  to  this  congress,  where  the 
same  should  be  fully  considered,  upon  such  evi- 
dence as  the  disputing  nations  might  see  fit  to 
present.  This  testimony  could  be  submitted  to  a 
committee  or  to  the  congress  in  regular  session, 
as  the  congress  might  decide.     Each  disputant 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  161 

should  be  allowed  to  appear  before  the  congress 
by  attorney,  if  it  so  desired,  when  the  matter 
should  be  fully  considered  and  decided  by  a 
majority  vote.  All  questions  thus  decided  be- 
came irrevocable  decrees,  binding  upon  both 
and  upon  all  nations  concerned. 

4.  That  the  constitution  should  be  considered 
in  the  nature  of  a  treaty,  offensive  and  defen- 
sive, between  all  the  nations  which  were  parties 
to  it. 

5.  That,  if  any  nation  whose  cause  of  com- 
plaint had  been  submitted  to  and  decided  by 
the  congress  should  refuse  to  abide  by  and  obey 
such  decision  or  decree,  then  such  nation  should 
cease  to  be  represented  in  the  congr(?ss,  and  all 
the  other  nations  represented  should  withdraw 
their  diplomatic  representatives  from,  and  cease 
all  communications  Avith,  such  refractory  nation 
and  its  people,  and  all  the  commercial  relations 
with  its  people  should  cease  until  such  time  as 
said  nation  should  set  itself  right  before  the 
nations,  and  make  the  proper  amende  honorable, 
after  which  its  delegates  might  again  become 
members  of  the  congress. 

6.  In  case  any  outside  nation  shoidd  declare 
war  against  any  member  of  the  compact,  unless 
such  member  should  by  the  congress  be  con- 
sidered clearly  wrong,  and  as  having  given  just 
cause  for  such  declaration,  in  the  light  of  inter- 

l  14* 


162  ^    DREAM  OF 

natioual  law,  such  outside  nation  should  be  con- 
sidered as  an  outlaw  by  all  nations  belonging 
to  the  compact,  and  be  treated  as  pirates,  and 
it  should  be  considered  as  proper  cause  for  dis- 
missal from  the  compact  for  any  of  its  members 
to  render  any  aid  to  such  piratical  nation. 

It  was  also  provided  that,  in  case  of  any  dis- 
pute between  any  member  of  the  compact  and 
any  other  nation  not  a  member,  the  member 
might  submit  its  cause  ex  j^cirte  to  the  congress 
for  its  judgment  and  advice,  and,  if  such  mem- 
ber followed  the  judgment  of  the  congress,  it 
should  have  the  aid  and  sympathy  of  all  the 
other  members. 

7.  That  the  constitution  might  be  amended, 
by  embodying  the  desired  amendment  in  a  reso- 
lution, which  should  receive  a  majority  vote  of 
the  congress,  after  which  it  should  lie  over  for 
one  year,  and  be  submitted  to  all  the  nations 
belonging  to  the  compact,  allowing  such  nations 
opportunity  to  instruct  their  representatives. 
After  the  expiration  of  one  year,  the  amend- 
ment could  become  a  part  of  the  constitution 
by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  congress. 

8.  That  no  nation  belonging  to  the  compact 
should  go  to  war  with  any  other  nation,  whether 
a  member  or  not,  without  consent  of  the  con- 
gress. 

9.  That  every  nation  belonging  to  the  com- 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  Ig3 

pact  should  use  its  influence  to  promote  peace 
and  dispel  the  war-spirit  all  over  the  planet. 

10.  That  the  constitution  should  go  into 
force  when  five  nations  should  sign  the  same 
and  commission  their  representatives  to  the 
congress. 

Nearly  all  the  leading  governments  approved 
this  constitution  at  once,  and  commissioned 
their  representatives.  The  weaker  governments 
soon  followed,  so  that,  when  the  congress  as- 
sembled, every  civilized  government  was  fully 
represented.  The  half-civilized  soon  followed. 
Delegates  also  appeared  from  all  tribes  and 
peoples  that  had  made  any  considerable  progress 
towards  civilization.  The  applications  of  all 
were  duly  considered,  and,  if  it  was  found  they 
represented  any  real  government,  whether  con- 
sidered civilized  or  not,  they  were  admitted. 

Questions  submitted  to  the  congress  were  so 
justly  and  so  wisely  considered  and  decided, 
that  the  congress  became  very  popular  as  a 
court  of  supreme  judicature  for  all  nations,  on 
all  international  questions.  The  best  and  ablest 
men  in  each  nation  were  selected,  as  each  felt  a 
national  pride  in  being  ably  represented  in  a 
body  of  such  dignity  and  influence. 

Its  discussions  and  decisions  were  published 
in  all  languages,  and  read  in  their  own  tongue 
by  all  that  could  read.     The  people  began  very 


164  ^  DREAM  OF 

soon  to  see  and  understand  what  trivial  matters 
had  caused  great  wars,  and  how  easily  they 
could  be  settled  without  war.  A  proper  apol- 
ogy, if  it  was  a  matter  of  indignity  or  personal 
aifront,  and  restitution,,  if  a  matter  of  property, 
saved  a  great  waste  of  time  and  treasure  and 
blood  and  life.  But,  after  all,  the  great  loss 
of  treasure  and  blood  and  life  was  not  the 
greatest  evil  of  wars.  Wars  took  the  minds 
of  the  governing  classes  away  from  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  nation,  and  these  affairs,  and 
largely  of  all  classes, — such  as  agriculture,  com- 
merce, manufacturing,  education,  morality,  re- 
ligion, etc., — were  left  to  struggle  without  the 
aid  and  guidance  of  the  best  minds.  It  was 
in  this  way  that  wars  were  most  effective  in 
retarding  the  progress  of  civilization. 

The  governments  continued  their  armaments 
on  laud  and  sea  until  they  became  satisfied  that 
their  high  international  court  of  judicature  had 
come  to  stay ;  then,  by  common  consent,  in 
compliance  with  a  resolution  of  advice  of  the 
international  congress,  they  began  the  process 
of  disarming,  and  all  the  armies  and  navies  of 
the  world  were  reduced  to  the  number  needed 
as  an  internal  police,  to  enforce  local  laMS  and 
maintain  peace  and  security  at  home.  Their 
cannon  were  moulded  into  ploughs,  and  their 
swords  literally  beaten  into  pruning-hooks,  and 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  165 

men  turned  their  attention  to  useful  employ- 
ments. 

Not  until  universal  peace  was  established, 
and  further  wars  were  no  longer  apprehended, 
did  the  people  of  the  nations  realize  the  real 
and  greatest  evil  of  Mars.  They  had  for  many 
centuries  concentrated  the  best  talent  upon  erect- 
ing barriers  to  civilization,  obstacles  to  the  best 
good  of  mankind.  All  the  spirit  and  energy 
and  courage  and  enterprise  of  the  nations  had 
been  exhausted  in  efforts  at  human  destruction. 
Now  that  international  wars  were  forever  at  an 
end,  people  of  heart  and  brains  turned  their 
attention  more  to  economics  and  sociology, — 
to  real  statesmanship.  As  they  did  so,  they 
quickly  discovered  tlie  spirit  of  injustice  as 
reigning  supreme  everywhere.  They  saw  that 
the  few  were  reaping  the  products  of  the  labor 
of  the  many ;  that  the  masses  had  for  many 
ages,  with  comparative  willingness,  consented 
to  be  the  hewers  of  wood  and  the  carriers  of 
water  for  the  privileged  few ;  tliat  the  few 
amassed  great  fortunes  and  lived  in  opulent 
luxury,  while  all  around  them  were  poverty 
and  hunger  and  distress.  The  observing  and 
thoughtful  could  easily  see  that  this  condition 
of  things  must  continually  breed  discontent, 
turbulence,  and  civil  wars.  An  international 
congress  could  adjust  and  settle  international 


166  -4   DREAM  OF 

disputes,  but  it  could  not  adjust  social  aud  in- 
dividual MTougs.  But  the  success  of  the  inter- 
tioual  cono-ress  in  abolishino;  international  wars 
was  a  great  stimulus  to  the  nations  to  prevent 
by  peaceable  means  internal  discords,  and  to 
remove  all  causes  and  dangers  of  civil  wars. 
Hence  all  national  plans  for  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  the  common  people,  and  for  ridding 
society  of  poverty,  received  respectful  and  can- 
did consideration. 

It  was  quickly  discovered  that  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  poverty  and  distress  was  the 
result  of  bad  habits,  of  indulgence,  indolence, 
and  wastefulness,  and  could  not  be  permanently 
relieved  except  by  a  change  of  these  habits. 
But  habits,  once  formed,  are  not  easily  changed. 
So  these  statesmen  were  soon  ready  to  agree 
with  the  educationists,  that  the  place  to  begin 
was  with  childhood. 

The  influence  of  this  congress  did  not  end 
with  the  extinction  of  war.  It  brought  the 
lowest  grades  of  civilization  in  contact  with 
the  highest,  in  such  way  as  to  lead  the  unciv- 
ilized and  half-civilized  people  to  see  what  they 
were  losing,  and  induce  them  to  accept  the 
measures  best  adapted  for  their  improvement. 
Even  as  a  missionary  enterprise  the  interna- 
tional congress  far  excelled  all  that  had  ever 
before  been  done.     It  was  quickly  recognized 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  1(57 

that  the  Christian  nations  were  much  in  ad- 
vance of  all  the  others  in  everything  that  con- 
tributed to  human  happiness,  and  other  forms 
of  religion  began  to  give  way  to  Christianity. 
The  nations  which  manifested  the  spirit  of 
Christ  in  securing  religious  liberty  to  their 
people,  equality  of  political  rights,  and  justice 
between  man  and  man,  were  most  popular  and 
influential  in  the  cono-ress  and  among  the  na- 
tions,  and  their  institutions  and  laws  and  cus- 
toms and  language  were  most  copied  by  the 
various  people  of  the  planet. 

National  prejudices  began  to  crumble,  and 
the  fraternal  spirit  began  to  grow  and  extend, 
so  that  the  long-talked-of  universal  brother- 
hood of  man,  which  has  since  been  reached  on 
Mars,  was  distinctly  foreshadowed.  The  con- 
gress was  a  kind  of  open  door  through  which 
the  nations  could  see  each  other  more  closely 
than  ever  before, — could  see  what  to  copy  and 
what  to  avoid. 

The  men  of  the  Eastern  World,  being  re- 
lieved from  army  life,  began  to  assume  the 
support  of  their  families,  and  to  abandon  their 
habits  of  indolence  and  indifference  and  the 
vices  springing  therefrom.  The  wives  and 
mothers,  being  relieved  from  farm  and  shoji 
service,  turned  their  attention  more  to  their 
homes  and  the  care  and  culture  of  their  chil- 


168  A   DREAM  OF 

dren.  The  men  soon  began  to  recognize  the 
fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  product  of 
their  labor  and  genius  belonged  to  themselves, 
and  they  became  more  industrious,  ambitious, 
and  spirited.  In  a  few  generations  men  began 
to  be  esteemed  and  respected  for  their  real  worth 
in  genius,  skill,  and  character,  rather  than  for 
the  accident  of  birth  or  the  possession  of  riches. 

After  these  ideas  and  influences  became  prev- 
alent, it  was  not  long  before  the  people  ceased 
being  born  to  rank  and  position.  Rank  and 
position  went  to  those  who  earned  them,  thereby 
putting  a  premium  on  industry,  culture,  and 
character. 

The  abolition  of  laws  for  the  collection  of 
debts  placed  a  premium  upon  integrity  and 
character.  Integrity  and  common  honesty  be- 
tween man  and  man  were  more  brought  into 
business  transactions,  and  frauds  and  breaches 
of  trust  greatly  diminished.  This  was  a  great 
stimulus  to  parents  and  teachers  in  the  training 
of  childhood  and  the  building  of  character. 

These  laws  constituted  the  first  serious  legal 
steps  towards  making  character,  instead  of 
wealth,  the  ticket  of  admission  to  social  posi- 
tion. Dishonesty,  deception,  false  representa- 
tions in  business,  intemperance,  extravagance, 
and  profligacy  in  all  its  forms,  became  more 
hateful  and  disgraceful  than  ever  before.     Idle 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  169 

luxury  was  disreputable,  and  lost  caste  in  society. 
Living  in  idle  luxury  upon  hoarded  wealth 
was  looked  upon  as  a  species  of  dishonesty, 
and  became  unpopular.  The  poor  began  to 
understand  that  much  of  their  poverty  and 
distress  was  because  of  idleness,  or  wasteful- 
ness, or  intemperance,  or  other  bad  habits,  or 
Avant  of  skill ;  and  these  habits  became  dis- 
graceful, and  want  arising  from  them  lost  the 
sympathy  and  help  of  better  people.  This 
stimulated  them  to  correct  their  own  habits 
and  look  much  more  closely  to  the  habits  of 
their  children. 

Through  the  international  congress  and  the 
publications  incident  to  it,  these  ideas  spread 
rapidly  over  the  world,  and  soon  began  to  take 
root  everywhere. 


16 


170  ^    DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER    X. 

In  the  twentieth  century  a  decided  reform 
was  inaugurated,  ending  in  changing  and  greatly 
improving  the  rights  of  property  in  lands.  In 
most  of  the  eastern  countries  the  land  was  par- 
celled out  in  large  tracts  to  a  favored  few,  who 
held  the  same  in  perpetuity,  passing  the  titles 
from  father  to  oldest  son  through  the  genera- 
tion. These  landlords  would  divide  up  their 
possessions  into  small  holdings,  to  be  occupied, 
improved,  and  cultivated  by  tenants.  The 
greed  of  landlords  would  allow  little  or  nothing 
for  necessary  improvements,  but  always  de- 
manded a  large  share  of  the  products  of  these 
holdings  as  rentals,  which,  together  with  the 
government  taxes,  always  kept  the  tenants  in  a 
condition  of  dependence,  and  made  them  sup- 
pliants at  the  feet  of  their  masters,  the  land- 
lords. In  this  Avay  the  landlords  throttled  the 
common  people,  and  choked  out  of  them  their 
personal  independence,  their  manly  spirit,  their 
ambition  and  enterprise.  This  land-system  had 
for  centuries  been  a  barrier  to  any  high  state  of 
civilization,  and  ultimately  became  a  cause  of 
great  discontent,  leading  to  turmoil  and  insur- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET. 


171 


rections,  and  greatly  threatened  the  stability  of 
governments. 

In  the  Western  World  the  cultivated  land 
was  generally  owned  by  those  who  occupied  and 
cultivated  it.  The  unoccupied  land  mostly  be- 
longed to  the  governments,  and  was  sold,  with 
few  restrictions,  in  parcels  to  suit  purchasers,  at 
little  more  than  nominal  prices.  As  the  popula- 
tion increased,  and  the  public  lands  were  beino- 
rapidly  absorbed,  a  greed  seems  to  have  been  de- 
veloped among  capitalists  to  acquire  large  tracts 
of  these  lands,  with  intent  to  hold  them  until 
the  arable  public  lands  should  all  be  sold,  when 
they  could  command  greatly  advanced  prices. 
This  anxiety  for  large  lauded  possessions  be- 
came common  all  over  the  country.  Wealthy 
farmers  would  enlarge  their  fanus  by  buying 
out  and  dispossessing  their  neighbors,  often  en- 
larging them  far  beyond  their  ability  to  culti- 
vate, so  that  it  Avas  common  to  see  large  fields, 
that  had  been  under  high  cultivation,  neglected 
and  lapsing  again  to  a  wild  state. 

Early  in  the  twentieth  century  the  dissatis- 
faction with  the  various  systems  of  land-tenure 
was  almost  universal  all  over  the  planet.  It 
was  argued  by  very  many  that  every  one  born 
into  the  world  had  a  right  to  standing-room, 
Avorking-room,  and  living-room,  and  that  this 
right  was  not  compatible  with  the  rights  of  a 


172  ^    DREAM  OF 

few  to  monopolize  and  appropriate  to  their  own 
use  the  whole  surface  of  the  planet. 

The  remedies  presented  to  the  public  for  the 
real  and  apprehended  evils  of  systems  of  land- 
ownership  were  numerous.  Some  urged,  with 
many  plausible  arguments,  that  the  government 
should  confiscate  all  the  land  and  hold  it  for 
the  common  use,  claiming  that  every  one  born 
into  the  world  had  the  same  right  to  the  free 
use  of  the  land  as  he  had  of  the  air  and  water, 
and  that  no  man  should  be  permitted  to  fence 
in  a  portion  of  it  and  call  it  his  own  and  trans- 
mit it  to  his  children  and  his  children's  children. 

The  more  thoughtful,  however,  while  recog- 
nizing the  evil  of  landlordism,  could  see  no 
rational  remedy  in  the  doctrine  of  confiscation. 
They  then  began  to  devise  means  to  make  it 
unprofitable  for  a  man  to  own  more  land  than 
he  could  profitably  cultivate.  Various  ways 
for  doing  this  were  advocated.  Some  urged 
very  persistently  that  all  taxes,  of  whatever 
kind,  should  be  levied  upon  and  collected  from 
the  land.  This,  it  was  thought,  would  deter 
many  from  holding  uncultivated  lands,  and 
would  lead  to  better  land-distribution.  Others 
saw  that  this  would  be  oppressive  to  small 
farmers.  It  was  putting  the  whole  burden  of 
the  government  upon  the  producers  of  the 
necessaries  of  life. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  I73 

Finally  laws  were  enacted  taxing  most  heavily 
unoccupied  lands,  thereby  making  it  unprofit- 
able and  undesirable  to  hold  lands  to  secure  the 
advance  in  prices  caused  by  surrounding  oc- 
cupancy and  culture.  This  was  followed  by 
making  it  illegal  for  any  one  person  to  hold 
more  than  a  prescribed  amount  of  land.  A 
certain  amount  could  be  held  by  or  for  each 
person  who  might  desire  to  occupy  and  culti- 
vate it.  The  head  of  a  family  might  buy  and 
occupy  this  amount  for  each  and  all  of  its 
members,  provided  he  properly  cultivated  it. 

In  this  way,  by  gradual  advances,  the  land  was 
ultimately  divided  up  into  comparatively  small 
lots,  and  no  injustice  was  done  to  anybody. 
The  lots  were  sufficient  in  size,  if  properly  cul- 
tivated, to  furnish  adequate  support  for  the 
occupants.  As  population  increased,  the  inven- 
tive faculties  of  the  people  were  stimulated  to 
devise  new  methods  of  increasing  the  fertility 
of  the  soil,  and  improving  the  quality  as  well 
as  the  quantity  of  production.  From  time  to 
time,  as  population  became  more  and  more 
dense,  the  amount  of  land-holding  j)er  capita 
was  diminished,  yet  leaving  enough  for  all  de- 
siring to  till  the  soil.  Down  to  the  present 
time,  increased  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  im- 
proved metliods  of  culture,  have  caused  the 
increased  production  of  the  soil  to  keep  pace 
15* 


174  ^   DREAM  OF 

fully  with  the  increase  of  population,  and  there 
is  no  fear  felt  of  a  population  beyond  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  planet  to  house,  clothe,  and  feed. 
The  people  have  full  faith  that  man's  inventive 
faculties  will  continue  to  meet  all  demands  and 
emergencies. 

To  reach  this  condition  of  land-distribution 
required  centuries  of  trial  and  struggle,  and 
much  turmoil  and  bloodshed.  It  was  not,  in 
fact,  reached  imtil  considerable  advance  was 
made  in  the  classification  of  society ;  not  until 
the  possession  of  riches  ceased  to  be  the  card 
of  admission  to  social  standing ;  not  until  char- 
acter, real  personal  worth,  became  the  measure 
of  a  man's  personal  influence  and  the  index 
of  his  social  position.  At  this  time  the  selfish 
grasp  of  unneeded  property  began  to  relax  its 
hold,  and  a  sense  of  justice,  of  what  was  right 
between  man  and  man,  began  to  prevail.  When 
this  sense  began  to  sway  and  rule  men's  actions, 
each  one  recognized  the  existence  of  a  natural 
law  of  brotherhood, — that  the  highest  good  of 
each  depended  largely  upon  the  highest  good 
of  all,  and  "live  and  let  live"  became  an  ac- 
cepted law.  It  was  recognized  that  in  one 
sense  society  was  unitary, — that,  as  in  the 
human  body  no  portion  of  it  could  suifer  with- 
out affecting  the  whole  body,  so  in  society,  in 
the  great  body-politic,  no  portion  of  it  could 


A  MODEST  PROFHET.  175 

be  in  distress  without  every  other  portion  of  it 
being  injured  by  that  distress.  The  degrading 
influences  of  poverty,  and  the  debauching  in- 
fluences of  luxury,  were  alike  destructive  to  the 
highest  aspirations  of  all.  When  these  truths 
were  clearly  discerned,  and  the  good  of  each 
was  sought  in  promoting  the  good  of  all,  then 
social  wrongs  were  rapidly  righted. 

It  was  found  that  everything  depended  on 
the  restoration  of  the  sense  of  justice  to  its 
umpirage  in  human  transactions. 


176  ^'  DREAM  OF 


CHAPTER    XL 

One  of  the  most  interesting  things  that  at- 
tracted my  attention  on  Mars  was  what,  to  me, 
was  a  new  power,  which  all  seemed  to  possess, 
but  in  different  degrees.  What  this  power  was, 
or  how  obtained,  I  was  unable  fully  to  under- 
stand. Persons  seemed  to  exercise  it  on  things 
beyond  reach,  without  any  perceptible  medium. 
It  seemed  to  be  a  power  of  the  human  will,  by 
means  of  which  the  will  moved  and  controlled 
things  external  to  the  person,  with  almost  the 
same  facility  that  it  moved  the  hand,  the  tongue, 
or  the  foot.  It  was  a  power  constantly  used  in 
all  kinds  of  labor,  and  seemed  almost  entirely 
to  relieve  the  people  from  the  fatigue  of  labor. 
The  only  fatigue  seemed  to  arise  from  the  close, 
intense  attention  that  was  demanded  for  the  best 
effects.  Very  many  mechanical  devices  had  been 
invented  to  utilize  to  the  best  advantage  this 
wonderful  power,  and  new  inventions  are  con- 
stantly being  made  for  a  like  purpose.  To  a 
very  great  extent  it  was  used  in  place  of  manual, 
horse,  and  steam  power.  Some  seemed  to  be 
much  more  skilled  in  its  use  than  others.     Oc- 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  177 

casionally  one  was  met  who  was  almost  entirely 
destitute  of  it.  I  was  assured  that  in  some 
rare  instances  persons  had  lost  this  power  who 
once  possessed  it  in  a  high  degree. 

This  j)ower  seemed  to  be  a  purely  psychic  force, 
but  to  me  it  was  occult,  and  its  exercise  miracu- 
lous. I  had  before  witnessed  some  inexplicable 
exhibitions  of  what  was  called  mesmerism. 
But  these  exhibitions  had  been  crude  and  un- 
satisfactory. While  the  mesmerists  seemed  able 
to  exhibit  a  new  force,  yet  the  force  was  erratic 
and  unreliable,  subject  to  no  known  laws.  But 
on  Mars  the  psychic  force  was  an  ordinary  will- 
power, subject  to  the  same  laws  and  control  as 
other  actions  of  the  will.  The  people  there 
protested  that  there  was  nothing  miraculous 
or  supernatural  about  it.  They  cited  the  first 
commandment  in  their  Bible,  "Thou  shalt 
multiply  and  replenish  the  planet  and  subdue 
it."  They  said  that  "to  subdue  it"  meant  to 
master  the  principles  of  nature,  discover  its  laws, 
and  harness  them  into  the  service  of  man.  This 
to  a  considerable  extent  they  claimed  to  have 
done  already,  and  they  are  constantly  making 
new  discoveries,  and  securing  from  nature  addi- 
tional services  because  of  such  discoveries. 

On  ]\Iars,  as  on  the  Earth,  scholarly  men  are 
unfriendly  to  the  idea  that  an  omniscient  and 
omnipotent  God  would  need,  under  any  cir- 


178  A    DREAM  OF 

curastaaces,  to  interrupt  the  natural  workings 
of  his  own  laws  or  to  work  through  those  laws 
irregularly.  To  such  persons  a  mii-acle,  as  com- 
monly understood,  is  repulsive,  tending  to  be- 
little one's  idea  of  God.  The  people  of  Mars 
believe  that  Christ  did  no  miracles,  in  the  com- 
mon signification  of  the  word  "  miracle."  They 
admit  and  believe  that  Christ  did  what  the  Gos- 
pels say  he  did,  but  claim  that  there  was  noth- 
ing supernatural  about  these  works.  They 
believe  that  Christ,  being  from  his  nature  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  all  the  principles  and 
laws  of  nature,  and  having  perfect  control  of 
this  psychic  force,  did,  by  the  application  of 
this  force  to  the  principles  and  laws  of  nature, 
perform  his  wonderful  works. 

This,  they  claim,  does  not  subtract  from  the 
dignity  or  power  of  Christ,  but  rather  adds 
thereto. 

On  Mars  it  is  believed  that  man  will  yet  be 
able  to  do  all  the  wonderful  works  that  Christ 
did.  Christ,  when  among  men,  said,  "  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  believeth  on  me, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also, — and 
greater  works  shall  he  do."  It  is  believed  that, 
as  man  increases  his  wisdom  and  virtue,  as  he 
cultivates  more  and  more  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
and  studies  more  and  more  deeply  into  the  laws 
of  physical  nature  and  into  the  mental  and  moral 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  179 

nature  of  man,  he  will  greatly  increase  his 
power  over  nature,  and  will  be  able  easily  and 
daily  to  accomplish  what  in  earlier  times  were 
regarded  as  miracles. 

This  psychic  force  is  applied  everywhere 
where  force  is  needed.  When  many  join  to- 
gether, and  exert  their  wills  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, the  force  developed  becomes  enormous, 
and  is  used  for  many  practical  purposes.  They 
even  feel  confident  that,  by  aid  of  this  force, 
and  a  further  knowledge  of  the  laws  relating 
to  meteorology,  which  they  are  now  carefully 
investigating,  they  will  be  able  to  control  the 
winds  and  produce  dry  weather  and  rains  at 
pleasure.  I  learned  that  only  those  who  were 
entirely  free  from  any  taint  of  disease  of  either 
body  or  mind,  acquired  or  inherited,  and  whose 
intellectual,  emotional,  and  spiritual  natures  were 
evenly  developed,  so  as  to  be  entirely  under  tlie 
control  of  the  conscience  and  judgment,  pos- 
sessed control  of  this  psychic  force  in  a  high 
degree,  and  that  they  may  lose  it  by  a  loss  of 
purity  and  integrity. 

In  their  scientific  and  philosophic  studies  and 
investigations  they  have  gone  far  beyond  us  in 
every  department  of  knowledge.  Much  that  is 
speculation  and  hypothesis  with  us,  is  fixed 
science  with  them.  Their  inherited  intellectual 
and  moral  strength  and  development  are  such 


180  -4    DREAM  OF 

that  they  grapple  questions  with  a  vigor  and 
strength  unknown  to  us.  Our  strongest  and 
clearest  intellects  here  are  only  a  prophecy  of 
what  is  common  there.  Their  great  unity  of 
doctrine  and  pmctice  is  the  result  of  their  ac- 
curate knowledge.  Here  it  is  understood  that 
differences  of  opinion  arise  either  from  preju- 
dice or  imperfect  knowledge,  and  that  honest 
study  must  diminish  such  differences.  The 
more  men  think  and  study,  in  an  honest  search 
for  truth,  the  nearer  will  their  opinions  co- 
incide. There  they  hav^e  advanced  so  far  in 
honest  research  that  all  are  agreed  on  many 
questions  that  now  greatly  divide  us.  Yet 
with  them  knowledge  has  its  boundaries,  and 
on  the  outskirts,  where  their  knowledge  is  im- 
perfect, differences  of  opinion  exist.  But  they 
have  long  since  learned  to  exercise  in  this  great 
charity  and  liberality,  knowing  that  further 
research  will  bring  all  together.  So,  between 
science  and  religion  there  are  no  feuds.  The- 
ology no  longer  opposes  itself  to  science,  and 
science  does  not  arrogate  to  itself  the  right  to 
question  the  truths  of  theology.  Men  are  left 
free  and  encouraged  to  seek  truth  in  every  field 
of  knowledge,  with  no  fears  whatever  that  these 
truths  when  discovered  will  be  unfriendly  to 
each  other.  The  intellect  and  the  moral  nature, 
science  and  theology,  the  material  and  the  spirit- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  181 

ual,  are  all  recognized  as  God's  books,  and  the 
truths  of  all  these  books  are  God's  truths  and 
cannot  conflict  with  each  other.  All  apparent 
contradictions  are  only  exhibitions  of  imper- 
fect knowledge,  and  will  disappear  as  the 
knowledge  becomes  clear  and  perfect.  When 
truths  are  fully  seen  and  understood,  they 
must  always  coincide  and  harmonize  with  one 
another. 

Another  very  noticeable  thing  among  the 
people  of  Mars  was  their  wonderful  power  of 
insight  into  each  other,  especially  between  in- 
timate friends.  Those  who  lived  in  confiden- 
tial relations  seemed  to  be  almost  trauspai'ent 
to  each  other.  This  was  so  noticeable  as  to 
excite  in  me  great  wonder,  and  lead  me  to  sus- 
pect that  here  was  another  power  which  I  had 
not  before  known,  but  I  was  assured  that  such 
was  not  the  case.  As  an  explanation  of  this 
power,  I  was  cited  to  a  paragraph  in  an  old 
book,  written  several  centuries  ago.  It  reads 
as  follows  :  "  It  is  well  known  how  readily  two 
persons,  of  generous,  confiding  natures,  will 
blend  together  when  brouo:ht  for  a  considerable 
time  into  intimate  relations  with  each  other. 
Each  seems  to  be  an  open  book  to  the  other. 
They  can  read  each  other's  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings with  almost  unerring  certainty.  But  let 
either  g-ot  even  a  suspicion  that  the  other  is 


182  A   DREAM  OF 

insincere,  and  seeking  to  use  him  for  selfish 
purposes,  and  how  quickly  they  draw  out  from 
each  other  !  Close  the  books,  and  to  each  other 
they  become  opaque.  Selfishness  separates  peo- 
ple and  makes  them  mysteries  to  each  other. 
Selfishness  is  always  insincere,  and  always  shuts 
one  up  within  himself.  It  closes  all  avenues 
of  confidential  relationship  between  man  and 
man,  and  is  incompatible  with  the  highest  and 
truest  friendship.  It  makes  each  seek  to  hide 
his  real  self  from  the  other.  If  men  could 
become  unselfish,  a  generous  confidence  would 
become  universal,  and  mind  and  mind,  and 
heart  and  heart,  would  so  blend  together  as  to 
enable  each  to  read  the  other  as  if  an  open 
book.  While  selfishness  is  so  universal,  men 
are  opaque  to  each  other  and  unreadable.  Be- 
fore mankind  can  rise  to  their  highest  estate,  even 
as  mankind,  men  must  be  able  to  affiliate  in 
such  a  way  as  easily  to  understand  each  other, 
and  with  ability  so  to  read  each  other  as  to 
make  deception  next  to  impossible.  This  con- 
dition of  social  intercourse  can  come  only  when 
man  seeks  his  happiness  in  promoting  the 
happiness  of  others  ;  when  he  ceases  trying 
to  build  himself  up  by  tearing  others  down, — 
ceases  becoming  rich  by  making  others  poor ; 
when  the  sense  of  justice  becomes  strong  and 
controlling :  then  associated  eiforts  in  any  good 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  183 

cause  will  become  a  powerful,  almost  an  irre- 
sistible effort." 

The  people  of  Mars,  through  their  many 
centuries  of  careful  training  and  education, 
have  attained  the  condition  suggested  in  the 
foregoing  paragraph.  No  one  seems  to  think 
of  finding  happiness  amid  surrounding  misery  ; 
so  the  energies  of  all  are  directed  to  promoting 
the  good  of  all,  and  mutual  trust  and  confi- 
dence seem  to  be  universal.  Every  one  seems 
to  aim  at  lightening  the  burdens  of  his  neigh- 
bor. The  sick  and  unfortunate  are  kindly 
cared  for,  without  intermediate  societies  or 
almshouses.  They  are  cared  for  without  being 
made  to  feel  that  they  are  paupers.  Aid,  when 
necessary,  is  bestowed  without  destroying  the 
self-respect  of  the  recipient. 

The  persistent  culture  of  many  centuries  has 
fully  developed  the  sense  of  justice  which  had 
only  an  embryotic  existence  before.  Now  no 
trait  of  character  is  stronger  or  more  universal. 
Each  measures  out  to  the  other  all  that  is  justly 
and  honorably  due  in  every  deal.  There  are 
no  attempts  to  overreach  each  other  by  the  use 
of  any  kind  of  deception.  "  It  is  naught,  it  is 
nauglit,  saith  the  buyer  ;  but  when  he  is  gone 
his  way,  he  boasteth,"  is  no  longer  a  proverb 
applicable  on  Mars.  No  one  there  exaggerates 
the  value  of  a  thing  because  it  is  his  own ;  no 


184  A  DREAM  OF 

one  depreciates  its  value  because  it  belongs  to 
another. 

They  have  publications  there  corresponding 
to  our  newspapers,  but  they  are  remarkable  for 
the  absence  of  flaraino;  and  extollino;  advertise- 
meuts.  Very  little  advertising  is  done.  The 
full  extent  of  it  is  to  notify  the  public  of  a 
trader's  name,  location,  and  business.  These 
advertisements  have  no  display,  and  rarely  oc- 
cupy more  than  one  or  two  lines.  The  fences, 
rocks,  and  sides  of  buildings  are  never  disfigured 
with  posters  and  lithographs.  Some  old  files 
of  newspapers  found  in  their  public  libraries 
show  that  many  centuries  ago  they  advertised 
as  we  do  here ;  but  experience  taught  them 
that  it  was  better  to  abstain  from  much  ad- 
vertising, and  deduct  the  cost  thereof  from  the 
selling  price  of  their  goods.  The  people  finally 
discovered  that  the  purchasers,  and  not  the 
sellers,  were  paying  the  cost  of  advertising.  So 
there  was  a  popular  demand  for  its  abolition. 

The  advertisements  now  seen  there  never 
extol  the  advertiser's  wares,  never  compare  the 
price  or  quality  of  his  goods  with  those  of  his 
neighbor's,  but  always  leave  their  customers  to 
judge  for  themselves. 

It  is  taken  for  granted  that  people  know 
their  own  wants,  and  so  no  one  is  urged  to  buy 
anything.     Goods  in  the  shops  are  so  exposed 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  185 

as  to  be  readily  seen  by  customers,  yet  there 
are  no  magnificent  displays,  no  expensive  ar- 
rangements merely  for  the  display  of  goods 
and  wares.  In  this,  as  in  other  things,  inex- 
pensive simplicity  is  the  rule  of  practice,  thereby 
reducing  the  cost  of  wares  to  customers. 

Their  fully-evolved  sense  of  justice  entirely 
prevents  ruinous  competition,  and  the  same 
sense  prevents  ruinous  prices  in  the  absence 
of  competition.  Nothing  so  quickly  loses  cus- 
tomers to  a  tradesman  as  the  discovery  that  he 
is  wanting  in  this  sense. 

Another  noticeable  feature  of  their  news- 
papers was  the  absence  of  all  sensational  read- 
ing-matter. The  papers  were  not  printed  for 
depraved  appetites  and  idlers.  They  were 
filled  with  useful  news  and  information.  New 
discoveries  in  the  practical  and  fine  arts  were 
early  heralded  all  over  the  planet,  and  fully 
described.  The  newspapers  were  used,  largely, 
by  persons  of  advanced  thought,  and  they  were 
the  medium  for  the  dissemination  of  new  and 
useful  knowledge,  and  even  for  discussing  ques- 
tions of  speculative  philosophy.  A  highly 
moral  and  deeply  religious  sentiment  pervaded 
all  articles  published  in  their  newspapers  as 
well  as  in  their  books.  In  fact,  the  religion  of 
Christ  v.'as  immanent  everywhere  and  in  every- 
thing on  Mars.     In  their  laws,  in  the  execution 

1G» 


186  ^    DREAM  OF 

of  their  laws,  in  their  labor-system,  in  their 
manufacturing,  in  their  division  of  profits  be- 
tween capital  and  labor,  in  their  bartering  and 
trading,  in  their  banking,  in  their  systems  for 
transportation,  in  their  every-day  dealings  with 
each  other,  in  their  writings,  in  their  discus- 
sions, in  their  politics,  in  their  schools,  in  their 
churches,  in  their  social  intercourse,  in  every- 
thing and  everywhere,  the  spirit  and  the  teach- 
ings of  Christ  are  always  recognized  and  heeded. 
This  was  especially  noticeable  in  their  news- 
papers, where  all  met  on  common  ground  and 
discussed  all  questions  that  could  in  any  degree 
benefit  anybody.  The  newspapers  were  all  pub- 
lished in  a  form  to  facilitate  preservation,  and 
they  were  carefully  kept  for  future  reference. 

In  the  publication  offices  the  type  were  all 
set  and  distributed  by  machinery.  This  machin- 
ery was  so  simple  and  efficient  that  a  boy  or  girl 
sixteen  years  of  age  could  easily  do  the  work  of 
eight  or  ten  good  type-setters  by  the  old  method, 
and  that,  too,  with  no  more  labor  or  fatigue 
than  is  required  to  run  one  of  our  type-writing 
machines, — simply  by  fingering  the  letters  upon 
an  ordinary  key-board :  consequently,  the  print- 
ing of  newspapers  was  accomplished  at  so  little 
cost  that,  even  without  a  large  income  from 
advertising,  good  papers  could  be  published 
and  sold  at  a  price  within  the  means  of  all. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  Igy 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Government,  among  the  people  of  Mars, 
is  a  very  simple,  inexpensive  aifair.  Such  a 
people  need  but  little  governing.  Yet  school- 
houses  must  be  built  and  schools  maintained ; 
their  great  libraries  must  be  cared  for ;  high- 
ways must  be  constructed  and  kept  in  repair ; 
necessary  taxes  must  be  levied,  collected,  and 
disbursed ;  and  many  other  things,  strictly  for 
the  public  good  and  convenience,  call  for  the 
machinery  of  government,  even  among  a  peo- 
ple so  nearly  perfect.  They  have  executive, 
legislative,  and  judicial  departments,  in  gov- 
ernments, yet  each  is  more  simple  in  its  struc- 
ture, as  tlie  demands  for  the  interference  of  the 
government  in  the  affairs  of  men  are  small 
compared  to  what  they  are  here. 

The  executive  is  more  like  a  patriarch  than 
a  governor.  He  watches  to  see  that  no  dis- 
turbing causes  spring  up  to  molest  the  peace  of 
society  in  any  part  of  the  commonwealth,  and 
to  see  that  the  public  burdens  are  evenly  and 
equitably  distributed  and  borne  by  the  people. 
He  instructs  public  functionaries  as  to   their 


138  A  DREAM  OF 

duties,  and,  in  general,  watches  all  the  public 
interests  of  the  jieople. 

The  legislative  department  has  but  little  to 
do.  The  statutory  laws  are  very  few,  and  most 
of  them  very  old.  Excessive  legislation  long 
ago  ceased  to  be  the  folly  of  the  people  of 
Mars.  Reforms  were  secured  by  correcting 
public  opinion,  rather  than  by  legislation.  The 
statutes  are  so  few,  and  have  been  so  long 
maintained  without  change,  that  all  know  and 
obey  them.  The  time  has  been  there,  as  here, 
when  statutory  laws  Avere  very  numerous,  oc- 
cupying many  large  volumes,  and  a  new  vol- 
ume was  added  every  year.  Laws  then  were 
constantly  being  made,  amended,  repealed,  re- 
enacted,  etc.,  so  that  no  one  could  know  them. 
Many  of  these  laws  were  ambiguous,  and  their 
meaning  was  quite  uncertain  until  the  judicial 
department  had  given  them  a  construction. 
IMuch  of  the  vast  amount  of  litigation  that 
afflicted  the  people  of  those  times  grew  out  of 
excessive  legislation  and  the  uncertainty  as  to 
what  the  law  was.  As  men  grew  better  and 
wiser  they  repealed  more  laws  than  they  made, 
so  that  the  volumes  of  statutory  laws  gradually 
diminished  until  they  reached  their  present 
simple  condition.  When  men  took  no  con- 
science into  their  business,  but  felt  they  could 
riffhtfullv  take  anv  advantage  of  their  fellow- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  189 

men  that  statutory  law  would  permit,  there  was 
a  coustant  temptation  to  put  the  laws  into  such 
shape  as  would  facilitate  conscienceless  schemes. 

The  judicial  department  of  government  on 
ISIars  is  almost  entirely  relieved  from  the  dis- 
agreeable features  of  the  courts  of  olden  times. 
There  is  now  very  little  litigation,  and  no  acri- 
mony or  bitterness  accompanies  it.  Men  come 
into  court,  with  or  without  attorneys,  as  they 
please,  when  an  honest  difference  exists  between 
them  as  to  their  relative  rights.  All  they 
desire  is  what  is  just  and  proper,  whether 
technically  legal  or  not.  So,  often  the  court 
becomes  more  of  an  arbiter  between  friends 
than  a  strictly  judicial  tribunal.  It  is  the 
business  of  courts  and  attorneys  to  prevent 
disputes  and  differences,  rather  than  to  court 
and  cultivate  them.  Attorneys  are  popular  in 
proportion  as  they  keep  disputants  out  of  the 
courts,  and  cultivate  friendship  between  them. 
Hence  trial  dockets  are  short,  and  litigation 
occupies  very  little  time  of  the  courts. 

The  courts  are  institutions  that  have  come 
down  from  olden  times,  having  less  and  less  to 
do,  as  civilization  has  advanced,  and  men  have 
approached  nearer  and  nearer  the  status  of  the 
perfect  man.  The  sense  of  justice  has  been  so 
highly  evolved  in  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
there  is  very  little  cause  for  litigation,  there 


190  A    DREAM  OF 

being  so  little  inclination  among  men  to  reach 
after  or  attempt  to  hold  what  belongs  to  others. 
Fair  and  honest  dealing  is  so  nearly  universal  as 
to  make  public  indignation  a  sufficient  punish- 
ment to  one  who  would  seek  to  violate  the  rule. 

It  would  seem  that  the  courts  might  be  en- 
tirely abolished  with  but  little  danger  to  peace 
and  justice.  They  would  long  since  have  ceased 
to  exist,  but  for  the  fear  that  their  absence 
might  possibly,  at  some  time,  give  rise  to  self- 
constituted  courts,  with  their  accompanying 
irregularities  and  peace-destroying  tendencies. 

In  the  earlier  ages,  when  education  was  al- 
most monopolized  by  the  priesthood  and  other 
favored  few,  public  opinion  was  artificially 
created  by  appeals  to  the  superstitions  and 
brutality  of  ignorance  and  heaitlessness.  Pub- 
lic opinion  was  then  a  tyrant,  always  ready  to 
cry  out,  "Crucify  him,  crucify  him  !"  against 
any  one  who  dared  to  think  or  act  in  opposition 
to  the  privileged  classes  or  the  dogmas  of  the 
priesthood.  In  later  times,  when  education 
had  freed  the  intellect,  and  men  became  able 
and  willing  to  do  their  own  thinking,  and  each 
was  willing  to  concede  to  all  others  the  rights 
and  privileges  he  claimed  for  himself,  public 
opinion  became  more  humane  and  just,  and 
frowned  only  upon  such  as  abused  their  privi- 
leges by  using  their  liberties  to  the  injury  of 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  IQl 

others.  This  public  opinion  was  strong  enougli 
in  ahnost  all  cases  to  hold  in  check  any  he- 
reditary tendency  of  olden-time  selfishness  that 
might  occasionally  crop  out,  so  that  courts  were 
rarely  called  upon  to  correct  such  tendencies. 

The  aim  of  all  departments  of  government 
is  to  interfere  just  as  little  as  possible  with  the 
affairs  of  tlie  people.  Men  have  cultivated  the 
habit  of  self-control  to  such  extent  as  to  require 
but  little  aid  of  organized  governments. 

The  governments  on  Mars  are  all  based  on 
republican  principles,  and  through  the  inter- 
national congress  they  are  so  closely  allied  as 
almost  to  constitute  a  single  government.  Each 
is  composed  of  several  states,  similar  to  our 
United  States.  These  separate  states,  often 
located  in  different  climates,  having  different 
products,  and  the  people  different  employmejits, 
called  for  the  exercise  of  considerable  genius  and 
statesmanship  to  secure  such  unity  of  interest  as 
was  necessary  to  maintain  a  unity  of  states. 

Their  history  shows  that  long  ago  the  nations 
of  Mars  passed  through  a  civil-service  reform 
epoch  similar  to  the  one  through  which  we  are 
being  whirled  and  shuffled  to-day. 

At  the  seats  of  government  large  numbers 
of  clerks  were  always  employed  in  the  several 
departments,  to  transact  the  public  business. 
The  spirit  of  reform  made  a  strenuous  effort  to 


192  ^   DREAM  OF 

place  these  clerical  and  gwasi-official  positions 
outside  of  partisan  control.  Examining  com- 
mittees were  organized,  and  standards  of  quali- 
fication established,  and  candidates  for  position 
were  examined,  and  professedly  appointed,  be- 
cause of  certain  qualifications,  without  regard 
to  their  party  affiliations.  These  appointees 
could  not  be  removed  except  for  sufficient  cause. 
But  this  plan  was  not  successful  for  several 
reasons  :  (1)  It  was  rarely  carried  out  in  good 
faith.  (2)  If  a  dozen  or  more  w^ere  appointed 
at  a  given  time,  it  was  found  that  at  least  one- 
half  of  them  would  have  sufficient  spirit  and 
enterprise  to  find  some  other  occupation  more 
profitable  and  congenial  than  that  of  a  mere 
clerk ;  so  after  a  year  or  t\vo  they  would  resign 
and  leave  the  places  vacant,  to  be  filled  in  the 
same  way,  and  a  like  proportion  would  again 
become  vacant.  Those  without  spirit  and  en- 
terjjrise  would  content  themselves  as  mere  clerks, 
with  no  ambition  to  become  anything  more. 
They  would  be  careful  to  discharge  their  rou- 
tine duties  just  well  enough  not  to  give  cause  for 
dismissal.  In  this  way  it  took  only  a  few  years 
to  fill  all  the  departments  with  appointees  who 
had  not  the  ambition  and  manhood  to  earn  a 
livelihood  anywhere  else,  and  consequently  were 
not  desirable  even  as  clerks.  (3)  The  plan 
tended  to  build  up  a  class  of  government  de- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  193 

pendents.  In  their  sycophantic  efforts  to  be 
non-partisan,  they  unmanned  themselves,  and 
became  little  more  than  nonentities. 

The  civil-service  reform  theory  presumed 
that  the  longer  a  man  held  a  position  the  more 
valuable  his  service  became,  but  this  proved  not 
to  be  true.  In  fact,  just  the  reverse  Avas  true. 
The  clerks  who  were  content  to  remain  clerks 
were  of  the  kind  to  fall  into  business  ruts  and 
become  "red-tape  winders,"  and  thus  were 
really  obstructionists  to  all  business  men  having 
anything  to  do  with  the  departments.  It  was 
found  that  a  new  clerk,  fresh  from  the  busy 
world  outside,  would  accomplish  more  in  one 
day  than  an  old  clerk  would  in  two,  and  do  it 
better. 

After  many  changes  in  the  plans  and  systems 
of  civil  service,  and  much  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject, they  finally  adopted  the  one  now  in  opera- 
tion, which  has  for  centuries  proved  eminently 
satisfactory. 

At  the  seat  of  every  national  government 
there  is  a  great  national  university,  of  high 
order  and  wide  scope.  The  whole  country  em- 
braced by  a  government  is  divided  into  districts, 
corresponding  to  our  congressional  districts, 
divided  upon  the  basis  of  population.  The 
appointments  to  clerical  and  other  semi-official 
positions  are  equitably  apportioned  among  these 
I        n  17 


194  A    DREAM  OF 

districts,  and  are  given  only  to  such  as  wish 
to  become  students  in  the  national  university. 
Applicants  are  examined  for  admission  to  this 
institution,  and  they  enter  the  university  and 
the  civil  service  simultaneously.  The  hours 
of  study  and  recitation  are  adapted  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  civil  service,  and  the  time  to 
complete  a  university  course  is  sufficiently  ex- 
tended to  enable  diligent  students  properly  to 
fill  the  twofold  office  of  student  and  clerk.  The 
salaries  of  clerks  are  barely  sufficient  to  defray 
their  necessary  expenses  as  students.  Dismissal 
from  the  university  is  also  a  dismissal  from  the 
clerical  position,  and  a  dismissal  from  a  clerical 
position  is  also  a  dismissal  from  all  gratuitous 
privileges  of  the  university. 

This  system  works  admirably.  As  the  stu- 
dent-clerks are  appointed  from  examinations 
conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  universities, 
party  affiliations  have  no  consideration.  It  is 
presumed  that  all  applicants  are  desirous  of 
obtaining  an  education  at  the  universities,  and 
this  desire  stimulates  to  efficiency  as  clerks  and 
to  diligence  and  good  conduct  as  students,  for 
the  loss  of  one  position  is  the  loss  of  both.  It 
has  been  found,  too,  that  a  student  makes  a 
better  clerk  than  one  who  is  not  a  student. 
The  student's  mind  is  active,  and  his  percep- 
tions are  quick  and  clear,  and  his  comprehen- 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  I95 

siou  is  more  reliable ;  while  the  mere  clerk  is 
almost  certain  to  become  comparatively  dull, 
slow,  and  stupid. 

This  plan  of  civil  service  in  the  departments 
at  the  seats  of  government  has  now  been  in  suc- 
cessful operation  several  centuries,  and  the  good 
results  are  seen  in  all  directions.  Chronic 
place-holders  are  no  longer  seen  in  the  depart- 
ments, and  the  national  capitols  no  longer 
swarm  with  government  mendicants.  Gov- 
ernment employment  is  no  longer  destructive 
of  genuine  manhood,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is 
elevating,  and  fits  employees  for  the  best  call- 
ings in  life.  A  new  supply  of  clerks  comes  into 
the  departments  every  year,  fresh  from  the  peo- 
ple in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  new  supplies 
of  university  graduates  are  sent  to  all  parts. 
These  graduates  go  home  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  management  and  inner  working  of  the 
government,  and  disseminate  this  accurate  in- 
formation among  the  people.  They  also  by 
several  years'  residence  at  the  capital  obtain  a 
more  accurate  knowledge  of  public  men  and 
measures  than  is  possible  except  by  such  resi- 
dence. On  returning  home,  these  graduates 
become  authorities  on  matters  of  public  meas- 
ures and  men,  and  political  tricks  are  far  less 
possible, — even  if  there  was  any  disposition 
among  the  people  to  pi'actise  thcra. 


196  A   DREAM  OF 

Another  great  benefit  derived  from  the  plan 
is  that  it  proves  a  strong  tie  to  bind  the  diflfer- 
ent  sections  of  a  government  together.  How- 
ever diverse  may  he  the  material  products  of 
the  different  sections  of  the  country,  and  how- 
ever different  may  be  the  employments  of  the 
people,  yet  their  minds  and  their  hearts  were 
moulded  together  in  the  same  great  university, 
— they  worked  together,  studied  together,  and 
matured  together, — and  thus  the  university  and 
the  civil  service  bind  the  sections  together  with 
a  stronger  cord  than  is  found  in  any  other  in- 
fluence. They  have  built  national  and  inter- 
national brotherhoods  all  over  the  planet,  that 
are  great  conservators  of  peace,  and  good  will, 
and  o-ood  "-overnment. 

Minor  officers  scattered  through  the  country 
are  appointed  for  a  specified  term,  and  very 
rarely  reappointed.  Thus  great  care  is  taken 
not  to  build  up  an  office-holding  class,  or  a 
class  of  government  dependents.  On  Mars 
government  is  in  no  sense  a  lazar-house  or 
infirmary. 

As  character,  personal  worth,  intelligence, 
and  Christian  morality  became  the  tickets  of 
admission  to  the  best  society  and  to  positions 
of  great  personal  influence,  wealth  became  less 
desirable,  and  beyond  what  was  needed  for 
comfortable  support  was  not  sought.     As  the 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  I97 

desire  for  riches  dimiuisbed,  there  was  no  longer 
any  object  in  concentrating  great  wealth ;  so 
large  corporations  and  trusts  began  to  crumble 
into  pieces,  and  wealth  and  population  drew 
out  of  cities,  and  sought  more  quiet  and  con- 
genial homes  where  population  was  less  dense. 
This  tendency  was  much  encouraged  by  phi- 
lanthropists and  true  reformers.  It  had  long 
been  known  that  the  most  potent  agency  to 
restrain  and  reform  the  evil-inclined  was  public 
opinion.  But  large  cities  afforded  such  facili- 
ties to  escape  the  public  eye,  that  young  people 
would  often  progress  so  far  on  a  downward 
road  as  to  lose  self-respect  and  get  beyond  the 
influence  of  public  opinion  before  it  could  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  them.  Dens,  and  places 
calculated  to  undermine  and  debaucli  character, 
could  hide  themselves  from  public  gaze  in 
large  cities  as  they  could  not  in  places  more 
sparsely  populated.  The  young  were  often  en- 
ticed into  these  places  and  ruined,  before  their 
friends  and  neighbors  knew  that  such  places 
existed. 

In  all  ages  there  has  been  a  laudable  desire, 
in  almost  all,  to  occupy  positions  of  influence 
and  trust.  When  riches  constituted  the  high- 
way to  such  positions,  all  scrambled  to  become 
rich.  Large  cities  in  many  ways  afforded  the 
best  facilities  for  the  accumulation  of  M'ealth, 
17* 


198  A   DREAM  OF 

especially  when  the  few  were  to  become  wealthy 
by  out-witting:  the  many.  So  dense  popula- 
tions were  built  up  into  large  cities.  Bat  later 
in  the  advance  of  Christian  civilization,  it  be- 
came well  understood  that  wealth  did  not  bring 
the  best  men  on  top, — that  the  species  of  talent 
which  rapidly  accumulated  money  was  not  the 
kind  to  be  most  enjoyed,  nor  to  exert  the  best 
influence  in  society,  yet  it  was  the  kind  to  be 
almost  certainly  thrown  on  top  in  large  cities, 
and  thereby  created  bad  standards  for  the  aims 
and  ambitions  of  young  men. 

The  advance  of  the  race  finally  reached  the 
point  where  society  demanded  for  its  leaders 
men  distinguished  for  their  intelligence,  purity, 
integrity,  and  disinterested  usefulness, — quali- 
ties in  the  possession  of  which  all  could  be- 
come rich  who  so  desired,  and  no  ambition 
need  be  disappointed.  Large  cities  did  not 
facilitate  the  accumulation  of  this  kind  of 
wealth.  It  called  for  no  intrigues  or  scheming. 
It  was  not  the  kind  of  wealth  which  made  one 
poorer  to  enrich  another.  Converged  capital 
was  not  needed  as  its  battle-ground.  So  those 
who  had  the  means  left  the  cities  from  choice, 
and  those  without  means  left  from  necessity, 
and  the  leading  schools  of  vice  and  crime  were 
closed  for  want  of  patrons.  In  this  way  the 
large  cities  gradually  disappeared  from  the  face 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  I99 

of  Mars,  and  the  civilization  of  the  planet  was 
greatly  advanced  thereby. 

In  reading  the  literature  of  past  ages  on 
Mars,  I  found  that  matrimony  had  been  a 
matter  of  extensive  discussion,  reaching  through 
many  generations.  A  great  many  theories  had 
been  advanced,  thoroughly  discussed,  and  then 
dropped  out  of  sight.  Mobile  others  assumed, 
under  examination,  modified  forms,  and  still 
exert  controlling  influence.  The  time  was 
when  young  people  contracted  marriage  with 
less  thoughtful  consideration  than  they  would 
give  to  a  business  transaction  involving  only  a 
few  hundred  dollars.  They  would  dress  their 
bodies  so  as  to  cover  up  all  the  defects  and  ex- 
hibit all  the  charms  possible.  They  would  do 
the  same  as  to  their  minds  and  hearts, — would 
be  careful  to  cloak  their  ignorance  and  all  the 
faults  of  disposition  and  character,  and  bring 
to  the  front  only  those  qualities  of  mind  and 
soul  which  they  believed  would  deceive  and 
charm.  This  was  the  art  of  courtship,  and  the 
time  was  when  it  was  practised  as  a  fine  art. 
Books  and  pamphlets  were  published  instruct- 
ing young  people  how  to  beguile  and  deceive 
the  opposite  sex,  and  thereby  make  matrimonial 
conquests.  Mothers  instructed  their  sons  and 
daughters  in  the  art,  and  rendered  them  all 


200  ^    DREAM  OF 

possible  aid  in  practising  it.  The  sacred  insti- 
tution of  matrimony,  as  well  as  all  other  good 
things,  was  prostituted  to  the  love  of  money. 
Parents  were  anxious  for  their  sons  and  daugh- 
ters to  marry  riches  at  all  events,  whatever  else 
they  might  get  or  fail  to  get.  The  results  of 
marriage  contracted  under  such  circumstances 
and  influences  can  easily  be  imagined  and  need 
not  be  described. 

Young  people  often  imagined  they  loved  each 
other  when  there  was  nothing  akin  to  love  be- 
tween them.  They  liked  each  other's  society, 
and  mistook  this  for  love. 

In  an  old  book  I  found,  in  a  chapter  on 
love,  a  definition  that  impressed  me  favorably, 
reading  as  follows : 

"  Love  is  that  relation  between  persons  in 
which  the  personality  of  the  one  is  very  nearly 
lost  in  the  other,  in  which  each  esteems  the 
other  better  than  himself,  and  all  selfishness 
disappears.  Liking  is  not  loving.  Admira- 
tion is  not  love,  yet  generally  accompanies  it. 
Lust  is  not  love,  yet,  in  matrimonial  engage- 
ments, it  is  too  often  mistaken  for  it.  Love 
must  have  a  solid  foundation  in  character.  It 
cannot  build  on  outside  appearances.  There 
can,  therefore,  be  no  such  thing  as  'love  at  first 
sight.'  Such  love  is  mere  fancy  or  lust,  and 
not  at  all  akin  to  love.     The  object  of  it  may 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  201 

afterwards  become  the  subject  of  real  love,  but 
is  more  likely  to  become  the  object  of  disgust 
wheu  lust  has  been  satisfied.  A  sympathetic 
nature  is  very  liable  to  mistake  pity  for  love. 
Love  can  spring  up  only  from  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  character,  and  hearty  approval 
of  the  inner  workings  of  life  and  causes  of 
action.  A  selfish  nature  is  incapable  of  loving 
or  being  loved.  The  same  may  be  said  of  an 
impure  nature.  Hence  our  methods  of  court- 
ship and  of  matrimonial  engagements  are  all 
wrong,  and  lead  only  to  unhappiness.  It  is 
only  by  chance  that  parties  occasionally  happen 
to  be  properly  and  happily  mated." 

Later  in  the  civilization  of  Mars,  when  the 
laws  of  heredity  came  to  be  well  understood 
and  properly  appreciated  by  the  more  intelli- 
gent, parents  strenuously  objected  to  their  sons 
and  daughters  marrying  into  families  ignorant 
or  unobservant  of  these  laws.  They  were  un- 
willing that  their  descendants  should  be  tainted 
with  the  physical,  mental,  or  moral  diseases  of 
those  who  had  deliberately  or  negligently  dis- 
regarded the  higher  laws  of  life. 

AVhen  money  ceased  to  give  social  rank  and 
influence,  one  of  the  many  incentives  to  im- 
proper marriages  was  removed,  and  conscience, 
justice,  and  good  judgment  began  to  exert  sway 
in  this  class  of  contracts. 


202  ^    DREAM  OF 

The  present  system  of  courting  is  quite  a 
sensible  admixture  of  business  and  sentiment, 
and  interested  me  very  much.  If  a  gentleman 
desires  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  lady  with 
a  view  to  a  match^  he  addresses  her  with  a 
request  that  she  will  make  due  inquiries  and 
investigation  as  to  his  ancestry,  his  character, 
habits,  disposition,  etc.,  and  asks  the  privilege 
of  doing  the  same  in  relation  to  her,  with  a  view 
to  an  ultimate  contract  of  marriage,  if,  on  bet- 
ter acquaintance,  it  shall  be  thought  wise  and 
best.  If  she  declines  this  invitation,  that  ends 
the  matter,  and  by  both  parties  what  has  been 
said  is  considered  strictly  confidential.  If  she 
assents,  then  both  parties  go  to  work  in  ear- 
nest to  ascertain  the  exact  truth  in  relation  to 
each  other.  In  this  iuvestigatit)n  it  is  under- 
stood that  the  immediate  friends  of  each  may 
render  all  proper  assistance.  At  the  end  of  the 
investigation,  if  either  party  reports  to  the  other 
that  the  result  is  unsatisfactory,  the  whole  mat- 
ter is  at  an  end.  But  if  both  report  satisfac- 
tion with  the  result,  then  the  l)usiness  portion 
of  the  courtship  closes  and  the  sentimental  part 
begins.  This  is  an  honest,  candid  effort  upon 
the  part  of  each  to  ascertain  whether  their 
tastes,  dispositions,  and  aims  in  life  are  such  as 
readily  to  affiliate  in  such  manner  that  each  may 
supplement  the  other  so  that  both  may  be  made 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  203 

stronger  and  better  fitted  for  the  duties  and 
proper  eujoyraents  of  life.  If  all  is  found  well, 
reciprocal  admiration  and  confidence  become 
the  basis  of  a  true  love,  and  they  wed. 

On  Mars  nearly  all  marry,  and  unhappy 
marriages  are  extremely  few.  Public  opinion 
is  such  as  to  ostracize  from  society  any  person 
who  will  disregard  the  laws  of  heredity  in  se- 
lecting a  life-companion.  There  is  a  fixed  de- 
termination, almost  universal,  that  disease  and 
deformity  of  either  body  or  mind  shall  not  per- 
petuate themselves.  The  people  believe  in  the 
survival  of  the  fit  only,  and  they  encourage 
only  the  fittest.  This  makes  another  powerful 
motive  to  good  conduct  and  the  proper  training 
and  education  of  children,  for  none  are  willing 
that  their  descendants  shall  be  ostracized  from 
good  society. 

As  stated  elsewhere,  the  people  of  Mars  are 
eminently  religious,  and  they  are  a  merry,  cheer- 
ful, happy  people.  There  is  no  infidelity,  no 
atheism,  no  scoffing  at  religion  there.  All  these 
things  went  out  of  existence  when  Dogmatic 
Theology  went  out.  The  various  forms  of  dis- 
belief grew  up  when  Christianity  was  a  creed, 
a  code  of  doctrines, — when  men  were  Christians 
if  they  believed  as  the  doctors  taught,  and  in- 
fidels if  they  did  not.     But,  as  the  people  in- 


204  ^  DREAM  OF 

creased  in  intelligence,  they  became  dissatisfied 
with  a  religion  of  belief.  They  learned  that 
devils  believed  and  trembled,  but  were  devils 
still.  Believing  did  not  necessarily  make  men 
any  better.  Sucli  a  religion  did  not  meet  human 
need,  and  was  unsatisfactory.  They  felt  that  a 
true  religion  ought  to  improve  a  man's  morals, 
while  one  consisting;  of  assenting;  to  certain  doc- 
trines  did  not  necessarily  do  so,  but  it  was  certain 
to  make  infidels  of  all  who  dissented. 

The  most  intelligent  people,  in  and  out  of 
the  church,  therefore  commenced  mining  down 
through  the  accumulated  theological  debris  of 
past  ages,  in  search  of  what  man  needed,  and 
found  it  in  the  pristine,  unadulterated  teachings 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  They  found  it  in  a  form 
so  clear  and  simple  as  to  need  no  theological 
schools,  no  doctors  of  divinity,  to  make  it  under- 
stood by  the  most  simple-minded.  They  found 
a  religion  which  begins  with  "  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner,"  and  proceeds  in  a  pure  life 
along  the  line  of  the  Golden  Rule,  and  uni- 
versal love  to  mankind,  and  ends  with  life  im- 
mortal. Tliis  religion  met  no  rational  opposi- 
tion. All  approved  of  penitence  for  wrong  ; 
all  approved  of  one's  doing  as  he  would  bo  done 
by ;  all  approved  of  loving  and  doing  good 
to  all  men  ;  all  approved  of  and  desired  eternal 
life  :  so  there  were  none  left  to  object  or  obstruct. 


A  MODEST  PROPHET.  205 

This  simple  religion  is  the  religion  of  Mars, 
and  has  been  for  many  centuries ;  and  who  will 
say  it  is  not  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ, — pure 
Christianity?  There  men  feel  that  they  are 
glorifying  God  when  they  labor  to  perfect  them- 
selves and  their  race. 

There,  as  here,  they  had  an  old  catechism 
which  asks  the  question,  "  What  is  the  chief 
end  of  man  ?"  The  old  answer  of  the  theolo- 
gians was,  "  To  glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  for- 
ever." They  have  also  a  more  modern  cate- 
chism, in  which  the  same  question  is  asked,  but 
the  answer  is,  "  To  perfect  himself,  and  thereby 
glorify  God  and  enjoy  him  forever."  They 
think  that  Christianity  teaches  that  man's  heart 
must  be  cleansed  and  kept  clean,  and  his  moral 
and  spiritual  powers  developed  and  made  strong, 
so  as  to  be  a  fit  temple  in  which  the  spirit  of 
God  may  abide,  and  thereby  be  enjoyed  and 
glorified.  It  teaches  that  if  the  heart  is  right 
the  life  will  be  right, — that  whether  one  eats, 
or  drinks,  or  whatsoever  he  does,  all  will  be  to 
the  glory  of  God.  They  believe  that  God  is 
not  glorified  so  much  in  words  as  in  works. 

Formerly,  on  Mars,  there  was  a  distinction 
between  religious  and  secular  employments. 
By  the  fictions  of  human  conceptions,  what  was 
called  the  Christian  world,  in  olden  times, 
maintained  a  divorce  between  religion  and  the 
18 


206  A    DREAM  OF 

common  duties  of  everv-tlay  life.  Mankind 
were  occupied  nearly  all  the  time  with  eating 
and  drinking,  buying  and  selling,  cheating  and 
being  cheatal,  making  and  losing,  devising 
amusements  and  being  amused,  and  with  other 
and  various  business  avocations.  These  things 
were  called  secular,  and  occupied  fully  nineteen- 
twentieths  of  all  the  waking  hours,  and  many 
that  should  have  been  sleeping  hours.  During 
the  other  twentieth  of  the  time,  a  part  of  the 
people  devoted  themselves  to  what  they  re- 
garded as  religious  duties,  which  consisted 
mostly  in  listening  to  prayers,  Scripture  read- 
ings, music,  and  sermons.  This  curious  map- 
ping off  of  life  into  two  distinct  parts,  denom- 
inated respectively  secular  and  religious,  was 
then  the  Christian  civilization.  Christianity 
was  then  embraced  for  its  supposed  efficacy  in 
bridging  the  abyss  between  earth  and  heaven 
at  time  of  death,  but  was  ignored  in  the  or- 
dinary occupations  of  life.  It  was  thought 
necessary  to  die  by,  but  inconvenient  and  not 
needed  to  live  by.  But  all  these  ideas  have 
passed  away.  Now  Christianity  is  the  basis  of 
all  organizations,  and  is  present  supervising  all 
the  occupations  of  life.  It  permeates  all  busi- 
ness of  all  kinds,  and  goes  and  abides  with  men 
w'herever  they  go.  It  supplies  the  balance-scale 
and  the  yardstick  in  all  trading  and  trafficking 


A   MODEST  PROPHET.  207 

among  men.  It  inspires  the  employer  with 
a  sense  of  humanity  and  justice,  and  the  em- 
ployed with  loyalty,  integrity,  and  industry. 
It  purifies  the  home,  the  school,  and  the  work- 
shop. It  sweetens  the  amusements  of  adults 
and  the  sports  of  childhood.  It  enlivens  and 
clarifies  social  circles.  It  warms  the  logic  of  the 
scientists,  and  adds  spirit  and  life  where  before 
they  could  find  only  inert  matter.  It  chastens 
literature,  and  adds  melody  to  music.  In  brief, 
Christianity  is  immanent  everywhere,  all  the 
time,  and  in  everything.  It  knows  no  holidays  : 
it  has  no  special  times,  or  seasons,  or  places. 
It  is  as  much  at  home  on  the  farm,  in  the  par- 
lor, the  kitchen,  the  factory,  the  shop,  the  office, 
in  the  court-room,  and  the  legislative  hall,  as 
in  the  church  or  cathedral.  It  controls  men's 
actions  on  Saturdays  and  Mondays  as  much  as 
on  Sundays. 

God  hasten  the  time  when  such  a  Christianity, 
with  such  results,  may  cover  the  face  of  the 
earth  ! 


THE   END. 


PRtNTSO   BY   J.    B.    LiPPINCOTT  COMPANY,    PhILADCLPHU. 


